Project: Jackson
by angelslaugh
Summary: First of the SHIELD Files. Percy and Skye Jackson have been through their share of crap, and trying to heal from the Second Titan and Giant Wars. On top of that, Percy's getting married and Reyna's dating Nico. Skye's the last one of the Seven left, and with Thanos cooking up a plan in the shadows, she's not certain she can beat him herself. Percabeth, Loki/OC
1. Welcome To A Nightmare

A little over a decade ago, my life changed. I found out things that weren't supposed to be possible-magic, gods, powers, demigods-and something I called family.

I ran away from my previous family and found a new one.

Then it all fell apart.

One of my new family members sacrificed herself for the remaining members. She died to save us.

In the end, one of my small family betrayed me and I found some of my old one again.

And life went on. Nobody cared; in the mortal world I was known as a kid with _severe_ issues.

Until I went back to the one place I _knew _was my home. For a few years I stayed there and I helped save the world, went crazy one time. Went back to school with less issues after that.

Then my crazy aunt devised an insane plot and sent me somewhere else without my memories.

Of course, I regained them. Made friends.

Saved the world again.

And watched friends die.

And now, sitting on the top of the Leaning Tower of Pizza (Annabeth said it's _Pisa,_ but with everything I think she can afford not to be literal) and eating pizza (Hawaiian Style from Hawaii) next to an anchored Argo II, I kind of wonder if it was worth it.

If my life was a sign, it'd be DANGER: ABANDON ALL HOPE IF YOU DARE ENTER THIS PLACE.

I'm pretty sure the Fates _love _to mess with my friends and I.

Or is it just me?

Because when I'm staring a Hydra in the face when I'm eating Hawaiian-style pizza on the Leaning Tower of Pisa and some person with a camera phone is videotaping our seemingly sudden random acts of violence with a baseball bat (in mortal eyes) in one of our hands and pizza in the other, I'm pretty sure that it's one of those moments when I'm not supposed to see a particular shade of green as the Hydra spits at me, seeing at Hydra spit is yellow.

And acidic, too.

I'm also pretty sure that I'm not supposed to see a rather handsome man in a cell, looking utterly broken-and I'm sure he looked broken because he was terribly upset about something.

Maybe it's just me, or maybe it's Fate laughing at my misfortune, as school was around the corner and I was seeing something that was _definitely _going to happen.

Because, seriously. What do I have to do to get a break?

~:~:~:~:~:~

**A few facts:**

**With the fact that Percy Jackson is named after a Greek hero, I figured his twin would be named after a prominent Greek figure, which led me to Andromeda, not Persephone, as I'm pretty sure the goddess in question would be pretty offended. This leads to Meda being very powerful in this series, but not invincible.**

**Andromeda is not a Mary Sue thanks to three facts: I was horrified to realize I made the characters in my Fairy Tail series into Mary Sues (which I will be fixing soon), Meda ****_can_**** die, and she is ADHD and dyslexic.**

**Also, she ****_will_****, later in the series, be a goddess. Sadly, that's not for some time, and yes, she can die. In BoTL, Rick Riordan kills of Pan by making him fade. No, she won't fade ****_yet, _****and I totally don't think that Rick Riordan will go all 'Wrath of the Titans' (or was it 'Clash of the Titans'?) and make all but Hades fade, so yeah.**

**Hope you like it!**


	2. School Sucks For ADHD Demigods

I suppose school isn't _too _bad unless you're a dyslexic demigod.

Thank the gods my stepdad, Paul Blofis, was able to score a few books for us demigods going to school at Goode, Thalia, and Calypso, who was already making gardening boxes.

Calypso and Leo were so cute together, I suppose.

But the Se-

No, not Seven. More like…Four. Out of the Seven, Percy, Annabeth, Leo, and I had survived the second war.

Jason died protecting Piper as Dylan threw a dagger to kill Piper. Piper died by Dylan's hand as well, by throwing a Roman spear. Hazel was acknowledged by Pluto, but died as a result. Frank died trying to keep Hazel alive.

Technically, everyone counted me and Percy as one. Even Gaea did. So yeah.

Only we survived.

Thalia decided to take a leave of absence to get more members for the Hunters. Percy and Annabeth decided to finish high school here, Leo and Calypso doing the same. I didn't know what I'd do-maybe go to Egypt. Or help at the House of Life-Sadie and I had met a few weeks ago.

I just wanted to forget about Tartarus.

The nightmares, though, wouldn't stop bothering me.

Anyway, we walked to school and got our books from Paul, all of us wore out from yesterday's activities (yeah, we were planning on telling Mom and Paul about 'blowing up the Leaning Tower of Pisa because of a hydra' later today, after they saw the news), and going to our shared homeroom (Paul's class-he'd pulled some strings for us to have mostly the same classes-all of ours would be the same excluding clubs and our elective).

Percy was the captain of the guy's swim team, I was the captain of the girl's swim team. Annabeth would probably be head of the book club, Thalia the head of archery club (don't ask, not even I knew why there was one), Leo the sculpting (if he decided to do that) club, and Calypso the gardening club.

We had so many clubs because of our long-time rivalry between Goode High and another high school named Midtown High.

"Hello, class," Paul greeted. I was sidetracked, tapping my pencil erratically.

"Hi, Mr. Blofis."

Percy and I called him Dad, in and out of school.

Poseidon, Percy, and I (in case you wondered why I haven't mentioned it much) don't have a good-if any-relationship at all.

We found out that he had another kid, but she wasn't ready-not yet.

After that, we seemed to cut Poseidon out of our lives.

"Hey, Dad," Percy and I simultaneously said after the class was finished saying 'hi'.

A lot of students turned to stare.

Whispers spread like wildfire when they realized Percy and I were the Jackson siblings, coming back to school for the first time since winter break the year before.

And it was September, so almost a full year.

"So, Skye, Percy, you two will be in the exchange science program. Once a week, you two-along with four others-will be taken to Midtown High," Paul said, his face filled with sympathy.

Instead of groaning like I would have the year before, I simply nodded sharply.

So did Percy.

~:~

Lunch was…well…to put it bluntly, sort of a nightmare.

We were all lined up for lunch, nobody paying attention to us.

Since Goode is a relatively small school now, we all had the same lunch period.

I, myself, followed Percy to an empty table. But then I remembered our actual, mortal friends.

"Percy," I said. My brother turned.

"What, Skye?" he questioned.

"Jack's going to skin us alive," I said, and he gasped.

Yeah, he'd forgotten.

Jack was our friend. He's seventeen…and mortal. And he wanted to go out with me.

Ew…

I approached Jack's table.

"Jack," I greeted.

He looked up.

The fry in his mouth dropped.

"Skye?" he questioned, his eyes bugging out of their sockets.

I gave him a punch on the shoulder.

"Hey, man," Percy greeted.

"Hey, Perce," Jack laughed, attracting half the cafeteria.

"You know the girlfriend you think is fiction?" Percy questioned.

Jack snorted.

"The one who you and Skye are obviously delusional about?" Jack glanced over the where Annabeth, Thalia, Leo, and Calypso were sitting. "I dig that blonde chick."

I gulped.

Percy only grinned.

"Annabeth!" he called.

Annabeth got up and ran over.

"Need help with some 'boring' architecture?" Annabeth questioned, her gray eyes sparkling.

"Naw, need to prove something." With that, he dipped her and kissed her on the mouth.

"Woah, dude, PDA," I said after a few minutes.

Jack's mouth was open.

I closed it.

"You'll catch flies," I told him.

"Come on, bring your friends. Tell us where you've been!" Jack laughed.

I sat down.

"My aunt kidnapped Percy and I, we took a quick vacation to Rome, Italy, hell, and Greece." I shrugged. "Yesterday we got back from Italy."

"Did you see what happened to that Leaning Tower of Pisa?" Another of our friends, Cassie, asked eagerly.

I winced, Percy choked on his drink, Annabeth's fork dropped, Leo brought out a mini hammer and started working on something, Thalia fidgeted with her shirt, and Calypso buried her head in a gardening book.

"Yeah," Percy said. "We were there. Briefly."

I fought to keep my expression blank.

"Yeah. I heard a few teens were eating pizza on there!" chortled Jacklyn.

I got up, no appetite left.

"Sorry," I said, my voice small. "I have to go."

I rushed out of the cafeteria, dumping my tray and then returning it.

~:~

NEW SHIELD HELICARRIER, SOMEWHERE IN THE OCEAN

"Thank you for coming here today, Avengers."

"No problem, Nick," Tony said, drinking his coffee.

_Anthony Stark, genius, playboy, philanthropist. Iron Man. Agent level: LEVEL 11, one below director._

Fury's eye twitched.

"It's DIRECTOR Fury-"

"Coulson's director, you're just the head of this helicarrier," Peter mentioned.

_Peter Parker, teenager. Spiderman. Agent level: LEVEL 1._

Fury sighed.

"The director," Fury said, "wants to recruit a few people. We don't know exactly who they are, but they are high schoolers." He grimaced and threw a few files down.

"Woah," Peter said. He snatched the thickest file with his spider webbing that shot from his hands. "They blew up the St. Louis Arch?"

_Powers: Can crawl on walls, uses spider webs to go across the city…saves New York from a lot-and A LOT means A LOT-of muggings. Basic crime fighter. Uses spandex._

Tony whistled.

"And the Leaning Tower of Pisa." He looked a little closer. "This file says two looked like twins? On had on a silver tiara? Shouldn't be hard to find."

_Powers: Uses a suit with titanium alloy? Can fly. Uses repulsor tech._

Natasha Romanov squinted her eyes.

"I know her."

They all looked at the file she had. A girl with black hair and green eyes laughed with what looks like her brother.

_Natasha Romanov. Black Widow. Assassin. Agent level: Same as Stark._

"Who is she?"

Natasha shrugged. "I only know her last name. Jackson."

Peter lit up.

"Jackson? I only know two Jacksons." He noticed the other Avengers looking at him.

Thor was silent.

_Thor. Asgardian god of thunder. Agent level: Same as Stark._

"Well, who are they?" Tony wanted to know. Really badly.

"They're supposed to be at my school tomorrow for the Goodewill Science Exchange Day." He held up a flyer. "It's for the six that are most terrible at Goode to come to Midtown every Friday." Peter shrugged. "I'm one of the best science kids in Midtown, so it's all good."

"They are heroes." Everyone turned to Thor. He stared at Fury, anger obvious. "Do not attempt to recruit them. Too much tragedy has befallen them."

"How can two kids be heroes?" Tony wanted to know.

Thor looked at Tony gravely.

"They have saved the world," he said simply. "I cannot say any more."

Thor got up and walked away, leaving for Asgard to visit his brother, most likely.

Everyone exchanged looks.

Whoever these kids were, it was obvious they weren't going to get away.


	3. We Get Knocked Out By a Nerd

The next day was…better.

Midtown High seemed like a good school, if you didn't count the bullies.

Honestly, Goode High and Midtown High had about the same amount of students.

"Welcome, Miss Jackson, Mr. Jackson, Miss James, Mr. Lawrence, Miss Lawrence, and Miss Lako. Welcome back," greeted the nurse. Her smile seemed genuine.

I looked away. I already didn't like her.

"Parker," she said, and a lanky teen approached.

"Yes, Miss Sally?"

"Show the Jackson siblings to Mr. Perkins' classroom." Parker nodded, looking a little troubled.

"Follow me," he said easily.

We followed him, me right next to him, Percy right behind me.

"My name's actually Peter, just so you know."

"Hey, Parker. Who're these two?" A big guy sized my brother and I.

While my brother wasn't muscle-y like the guy in front of us, I could feel Percy's wolf stare from behind me, and I added my super-ultra-deluxe I'll-kill-you-later stare that even Kronos had quailed at.

The guy paled and I knew we gave of danger vibes.

He said, "Never mind."

The guy practically ran away.

"They just-"

"-did you see-"

"-they just scared away the toughest guy in the _state!"_

"-with a stare!"

I raised my eyebrows and telepathically connected to my bro.

_We really need to tone down the glares, else the mortals will get suspicious,_ I said to him.

_I am being cautious, Skye!_ I snorted at my brother's empathetic statement.

Peter looked at us curiously. Then he turned into a room.

"Mr. Perkins, I brought the Jacksons," he proclaimed loudly.

Percy hit the ground with a thud.

I whirled around to see a mini arrow sticking out from his jugular, and felt one pierce my own.

The last thought I had was, _Darn. I really wanted to eat lunch…I wanted some pizza…_

~:~

"Skye…wake up!"

"Pizza…" I groaned.

"Thank gods," Percy breathed when I blearily opened my eyes.

"I want pizza, or else I'm going to do something very bad," I warned.

Percy gave me an almost wounded look.

I took the time to assess all escape routes and such…which there weren't any. Just us and some pipes.

I sighed and looked at Percy.

"It's just us and the pipes," he explained. "I checked. I was up a couple hours before you, though."

I blinked.

I strained my hearing…and blinked again.

"Pipes, Percy."

Percy looked at me as though I was crazy…then a look of dawning understanding lit his eyes.

"What are we going to do, metalbend?"

I gave him an impressed look.

"I'm surprised you were watching," I muttered.

"I wasn't. You tried to metalbend after you watched that. For a year."

My face went red.

"Legend of Korra is awesome! Don't diss on the Avatar cycle, brother!"

Percy fought to keep his amusement down.

"Or what?" he challenged.

I heard the pipes rumble with water, and I knew Percy had been distracting me and anyone watching so he could discreetly 'fidget' (but actually call water to him). But I was still mad.

"Or what?" he sneered again. "Aang is a twelve year old with a serious hero-"

I hit him.

Probably not the best idea, but my rage was at its limit.

The water burst through the pipes, startling both my brother and I.

I faked a girlish scream, and mist appeared as the water started to heat up for some reason.

I snapped my fingers, calling the Mist (the thing that shielded mortals from seeing us demigods) to me and wrapping it around my brother and I.

Spy-look-alikes came running in with guns.

Perce and I took this opportunity to dart out of the room, the Mist still around us.

We walked into an area where several people sat around a table, including a manacled-and-muzzled guy wearing green. Percy and I went back in the hallway.

Lots of green.

"So, we went against your wishes Thor and nabbed the two Jackson siblings."

I went cold at the name. I looked back at Percy-he looked pale.

Thor…

AGH! WHAT THE FUDGESTICKS IS AN ASGARDIAN DOING HERE?! I really wish I was so confidant in my ability with the Mist that I could go and just say hello…and I really wish I had seen Thor at the table. I'd only seen like three people.

Percy obviously felt my worry, because he placed a hand on my arm reassuringly.

I wasn't all that reassured. At all.

I looked back at the table and saw the guy dressed in green…staring at us. Thor looked angry. REALLY angry.

I lifted a finger to my lips, my face pleading.

His eyes, which had been somber, seemed to communicate mischief.

_Perhaps you should go the other way._

I nearly jumped in surprise. I felt Percy flinch violently.

_Or, since you look like Natasha and Clint, you could just coolly sit down, since they aren't expected for another hour._

Instead of following his advice, I just entered the room, my head down, looking preoccupied, and Percy did the same.

I slipped into an empty desk within hearing.

_I'm Loki, by the way._

_Leave me alone,_ I sent back bitingly.

_Loki? Who's Loki?_ Percy asked me.

I shrugged.

_I don't really know, Percy._

_The god of mischief._ Loki sounded insulted.

I groaned.

Then I heard Thor say something (yeah…we kinda met Thor in Italy, a few days before the Leaning Tower of Pizza incident. He was with his lady friend, Lane, or something), his tone angry.

"WHAT?"

"I said, we kidnapped the Jacksons. A few minutes ago, they escaped. Now all you have to do is find them."

I smirked a little.

Grand entrance, bow before me! Or ingenuity. Got to thank my ingenuity.

I grabbed a random piece of paper and started drawing quickly.

Adding a few speech bubbles, I looked over my work, satisfied.

It had a small cartoon of Percy and I in animation standing there, side by side.

Percy was smirking, and his speech bubble said, "I think you should've listened to Thor."

I was smirking as well, though it looked a little more sinister.

"I agree. And, unless you have pizza or chocolate, you've officially got on the Jacksons' bad side."

The third speech bubble was connected to both Percy and I in the cartoon, saying, "Game over!"

I stood up and went to the eyepatch dude. He didn't seem to notice that I was actually his former prisoner.

"Sir," I said, giving him the paper, then walking away, Percy right behind me.

~:~

Half an hour later we're concealed under a table in the cafeteria, watching agents run all over the place.

I was eating M&Ms, brownies, some Hawaiian style pizza, and some Skittles with the pizza and chocolate goods. Percy…was eating way more. It made my stomach roil unpleasantly.

The cafeteria doors opened and I saw the people from earlier (minus Eyepatch Dude) stroll in, Loki being attached to Thor by a chain extending from his manacles.

I decided to pop out of nowhere, the Mist gone.

"Hey, Thor," I greeted, Percy popping up a few seconds later. "How's life?"

"MY FRIENDS!" Thor boomed, seeming in a cheerier mood. "HOW GREAT IT IS TO SEE YOU!"

"You too, Thor," I grinned. Then I saw Peter in the group, standing around awkwardly. "Hey, Peter," I said, setting down my plate. I ran over and hugged him. "Thank you so much for leading us to that classroom and letting us get knocked out!" I giggled as I let him go. When I turned around, Percy was eating my Skittles.

He paled when he saw me glaring at him.

"Sorry," he whispered.

I merely smiled at him, then said in a dark tone, "If you ever eat my chocolate or pizza, Perseus Jackson, I promise I will castrate you."

He shivered.

~:~

"So, Natasha, is it?" I questioned the redhead sitting across from me. She nodded. "What's the best way to castrate someone?"

The other men choked at this.

"I mean," I said, pretending to be oblivious to their horror, "I always thought it'd be easier, but when I tried to castrate someone, he nearly died."

Natasha stared at me.

"Do it fast," she advised. "There's really no foolproof way to castrate someone. They could easily get infection and die." Her voice was low, as if she had done it before.

"Hmm," I hummed. "Perhaps it'd just be better if I tormented them with Justin Bieber."

Natasha cracked a tiny smirk.

I looked around and pretended I'd only just noticed that they (the men) were staring at us with horror.

"What?" Natasha and I asked in creepy unison. "It was a valid question!"


	4. Mortals Are Really Stubborn

We chatted and basically made ourselves at home until Fury-or Eyepatch Dude-strolled in and stopped, seeing us conversing with the Avengers and Loki, who, thanks to my violent tendencies of hitting people until I got what I wanted (actually, I only threatened to pull out Thor's organs one by one unless he treated Loki right, because Loki was being debased like a dog, which was too cruel-even for Fury), was now un-muzzled.

"Why did you break out of your prison cell?" Demanded Fury, raising a gun. I looked up, my face neutral.

"Director Fury, is it?" I questioned coolly. He nodded. "I do not appreciate being knocked out and dragged to Hades-only-knows. I'm a friend of Thor's and Natasha's" true. Natasha and I became besties! "and I don't appreciate being undervalued. Seriously? Just leave us alone," I finished.

"You will fight for us or else I'll-" began the director, but was soon put in place by me swiftly kicking him in the berries. Snickers erupted from the Avengers as Fury sank down on his knees.

"Or what?" I challenged him. "You'll kill us? Think again, pretty boy. I've pretty much pissed off higher beings than even Thor here and have an even messier family than Thor and Loki, so you might want to take it up with them." I pretended to think. "Oh, wait. They'd smite you." I gave him a dark smile. "So either you back off, or I will sic my cousin on you-my most war-hungering one." Out of the corner of my eye I saw Thor flinch. Ares was pretty violent. "I'll join your boy-band so long as I can invite my friend Annabeth."

Fury gulped, but nodded as he got up.

He turned away for a second, then turned back.

"I," he began, looking as though he'd swallowed a particularly sour lemon, "_respectively _ask you for an intero-, I mean, interview."

He said 'respectively' like he didn't care for the word.

"We'll be there," I said carelessly. "On our own time, so you don't have to worry. We'll yell."

Fury left.

"I told them not to kidnap you two. You two are heroes!" Thor loudly proclaimed.

I started choking.

Loki helpfully slammed me on the back.

My eyes watering and throat stinging a little, I turned to Thor.

"Thor…YOU DAFT IDIOT!" Percy was livid. "If you _hadn't _said _anything,_ I'd be proposing to my girlfriend right about now!"

I blinked.

"Uh…Percy…"

Percy turned to me.

"Yeah?" he asked impatiently.

"When were you planning on telling me that you were going to ask Annabeth?" I questioned, my voice deadly.

"Well, since you suck at keeping secrets, never." His brutal honesty didn't really shock me.

I sat down, nodding thoughtfully.

"Interesting," I said. "And true." Thor looked at me oddly.

"Anyway," Percy said, looking at Loki, "you could've tried to stop him."

"Not true," I said quickly. Percy looked at me. "He must have come here when we were knocked unconscious and taken here, since Thor would've been here. And if the rumors that I've heard lately are true, then Loki was responsible for the New York alien attack-"

"Again?" Percy asked darkly, but shut up as I threw him a nasty look.

"-and if Thor had left Loki here, things would have been chaotic," I finished, still glaring at Percy. "Like, Titan-level chaotic."

"I have a question, speaking of chaos," Clint (AKA Hawkeye) abruptly said, causing all attention to be turned to him. "Did you blow up the Leaning Tower of Pisa?"

"Nope," Percy and I said in synch.

"That was a hydra," I told them, noting how Steve Rogers (AKA Captain America…oh, I wonder if Nico knew this guy? Maybe Bianca did?) flinched at the name. All of their-excluding the Norse and Steve-looked confused. I blew a strand of silky black hair out of my face. "Hydra, you know, the 'cut one head off, another two takes its place' myth one?" They showed no recognition. Then realization crossed their faces. "Yeah, it has acidic spit. As long as you place fire at the stump of a head, it won't grow any more. Unless you're Heracles and stomp it with your Reeboks or like me when a hydra stomps on my good, Hawaiian-style pizza and you have a Human Torch at your disposal. It was easy to kill, compared to what else we've faced."

Steve sighed. "I doubt that the gods actually do exist. I refuse to." He stubbornly sat back as I stood up angrily.

"You deny the fact that we and the gods exist? And you _refuse_ to believe?" I asked, my voice low and deadly. "Mortals are _so dumber_ these days." I lifted my hand and all liquids floated up. "Apollo drives the sun across the sky, not in a chariot but in a Maserati Spyder that changes into any other car you'd want and spouts bad poetry. Hephaestus is one of the ugliest, and yet one of the friendliest gods I've ever met. He may be misshapen, but he's Hephaestus, man! Not his fault _Hera threw him off Olympus! _As for the things my brother and I went through…" I stared around the table, my face hard. "We defeated the Titan Lord of Time while he cut off the Empire State Building by giving one of my best friends a _cursed blade_ to stab himself in his Achilles' Heel! We faced off with two _primordial beings-_one being Night, or Nyx; the other the _pure incarnation_ of evil itself!" Thor looked shocked, while Percy looked down, slightly ashamed of what he'd down when he'd been near Akhlys. What he'd done to her.

"So," I said, looking Rogers straight in the eyes. "You might believe in the metaphysical, but I have to believe in the gods. You wanna know why?" He shook his head, but I continued, not caring. Not anymore. "Because all us demigods really are is a conduit so they are still believed in." I pushed myself away from the table.

"I'm sorry," Steve called after me.

I didn't turn to him, but I did stop.

"It's too late for that. I'm sorry."

I continued on walking.


	5. Fake Disease and Poor Jayla

Percy looked in the direction his sister went.

"Poor girl," Bruce said, Percy snorted.

"I sometimes hate mortals, myself." Percy took his sister's filled-with-chocolate plate. "They don't believe in some things they should. The St. Luis Arch was a complete accident. A chimera blew that up." There was a long silence, until Percy grabbed his head and snapped, "Alright, no need to yell!" Noticing the looks on the male members of the Avengers, Percy shrugged. "I have a psychic connection to my sister. Twin telepathy seems to exist in demigod twins." Percy shrugged again. "Anyway, I better leave before she starts to PMS early from chocolate withdrawals." Percy stood up and left, taking the plate of chocolate with him.

"That was…weird," Tony settled on saying.

"They're cool, though, aren't they?" Peter asked, grinning. "They're really awesome at swimming, so their father must be super cool."

"How do you know that it's not their mother?" Bruce asked, speaking up for the first time.

Peter smirked. "Because I was able to get someone to hack into Goode High, and saw Skye's and Percy's transcripts and records, all signed by a Sally Jackson." He noticed Tony jump a little in his seat. "Apparently, she was married to a Gabe Ugliano before he mysteriously disappeared and Percy went missing. Skye, though, had been missing since she was seven years old and came home when Gabe was out of the picture. Then Sally married Paul Blofis, a high school English teacher."

"Blowfish?" Clint asked, sounding and looking a little confused.

"No, Blofis." They turned to look at Stark, who favored them with a tight smile. "I recognize the name of their mother." He looked like he was deep in thought.

"Stark," Steve demanded, "how do you recognize their mother?"

"Because Sally Jackson is my half-sister," was the man's miserable reply.

There was a small silence.

"So you are the uncle to the greatest heroes since Heracles? Interesting!" Thor boomed, Loki wincing.

"Inside voice, Thor," he wearily said, catching everyone's attention.

"Loki, you look terrible," Thor said loudly.

"Good for me," Loki snarked. "I'm glad I look terrible." He looked angry when he said that.

"What is wrong with you?" Thor questioned.

Loki gave his not-really-a-brother brother an irritated look. "Surely you saw who this Skye Jackson looks like?"

Thor looked like he didn't know.

"Arianna ring a bell?" Loki snapped. Thor blinked.

"I do not think she looks anything like Arianna," Thor replied, and Loki sighed in exasperation.

"Whatever," he snarled. "Can we leave?"

Thor nodded. "Let's go, brother!" He stood up.

"I'm not your brother!"

~:~

The interrogat-_interview_ of the Jackson twins and Chase girl had gone…interesting, to say the least.

Skye had done everything in her power to irritate Fury, who had been the interviewer, and had succeeded. Most definitely. Especially when she'd randomly broke into an _Imagine Dragons_ song. It was called 'Battle Cry' if JARVIS was right (and he usually was).

Every time Fury had asked Annabeth a question, Percy and Skye would both start singing in harmony. Eventually, Annabeth had joined in (to everyone's surprise) and their voices were quite harmonious. The last one had been 'In The End' by the Black Veil Brides.

Fury had become infuriated.

Haha…

Anyway.

Skye was currently reading a story online that the Stolls were publishing, one piece at a time, of her best friend, Jayla Witwicky (who would, no doubt, kill them because they'd titled the stories 'The Curious Demigod's' and whatever the story was about), and found out something Skye was currently raving at.

"HOW DARE THEY PUT A SPIDER IN HER CEREAL! THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT THAT POOR GIRL HAS GONE THROUGH! I WILL BE VISITING THIS TRANQUILITY, NEVADA, ASAP!" She yelled, startling everyone around her.

"Uh, Skye? It's just a-"

"IT'S ABOUT JAYLA, YOU THICK-HEADED LUMP OF SEAWEED!" Skye screamed at her brother.

Instantly, Percy frowned. "So the Stolls put a spider in her cereal and she somehow saw it when it was in New York and she was in Tranquility?"

"No, Percy," Annabeth said, her voice dark, but not overreacting like Skye, "her school friends. I honestly didn't think she'd be that affected by spiders."

"Who are you talking about?" Natasha questioned.

Skye's eyes lit up as she looked at Natasha.

"You and Jayla would get along famously," she said, smirking a little. "She's a redhead, and redheads stick together, right?"

Natasha looked neutral. "Is the redhead a spy and in the service of SHIELD?" she questioned sharply.

"Nope," Skye said cheerfully. "She's a generally quiet, dyslexic, fire-proof demigod chick who almost scratched a son of Ares' face off. Not that I disagree with that, by the way, the guy was seriously vain." At Percy's reprimanding look, Skye sighed. "Fine. Jayla's judgment is absolutely terrible, but it'd be a pity if she never became a mother." Skye went back to reading.

~:~

Later that day Skye was talking to the administration of the school.

"Yes, that's right, we've contracted a very contagious disease called _Ludus Schola_ Syndrome. It's also very deadly." She nodded, but then remembered she was talking on the phone. "Yes, we did catch it from a Midtown High student." She grinned at Peter as he gave her a wounded look. "His name is Peter Parker. Yeah, I'd suggest sending his girlfriend home until a doctor can go and test her; she's been around the boy for a long time."

Peter hit his head on the table.

"Thanks. Yes. I have one other name, but this guy's grade is even more horrid than mine. He doesn't have a terrible grade, he's a bully and I was so hurt by his words to me…they were just awful. It was right before my twin, Annabeth and I all contracted the _Ludus Schola _Syndrome."

The administrator hung up a few minutes after Skye set the phone down. She turned to Peter and smiled. "Your girlfriend will be safe; I successfully convinced the administration all five of us have a deadly-and contagious disease. Your tormentor will be expelled from Midtown High as well; apparently Principals Leslie and Sam have a very good relationship." Skye wiggled her eyebrows to emphasize that point.

"Skye, you know Paul will find out, right?" Annabeth groaned.

Skye nodded. "Yeah. I know. I'm counting on it. He's Percy's and my stepdad, remember?"

"Yes," Annabeth replied sadly.

Percy suddenly stood. "We have to find out why exactly we're here, so let's go find the rest of the Avengers."

"Through the vents," Peter immediately suggested. "As long as JARVIS doesn't report us, we're safe."


	6. My Mother's a Dying Elf? New Little Sis?

So there we were, slipping through the vents and praying JARVIS didn't report us. We all heard voices ahead of them, the Avengers.

"-and Thor, why would they?"

"They are heroes!" Thor's voice boomed. "The greatest heroes since Hercules!"

I looked at my brother. We both shared an amused look. Heracles was his name, the Romans just renamed him Hercules. Not much of a difference. He was a selfish, stuck-up idiot either way.

"Actually, his name would be Heracles," Loki said, sounding exasperated with this bunch of heroes.

"Whatever his name is, he's just a myth, right?" Natasha Romanov asked.

I fought back a snort. Percy snorted just as Thor's voice boomed.

"No!" he said in his 'inside voice'. "Hercules was the strongest mortal ever known! He is a god now, so Andromeda Jackson, Perseus Jackson, and Annabeth Chase are the most amazing warriors in the history of demigods!"

Peter muttered, "And a great example for blowing up national monuments!"

I fought my laughter down.

Tony Stark seemed to think the same thing. "And a great example for blowing up national monuments!"

Percy shook with suppressed laughter as we heard the heroes talk amongst themselves.

"I still wonder how they survived the St. Louis Arch fall," Clint Barton muttered.

I felt my eye twitch. _Because we're awesome,_ I thought to my brother. I heard his silent laughter and smirked.

"That doesn't matter now. If we could get information from them, we can find out how many there are, where they are, and if they are a threat," Nick Fury snapped. Percy stopped laughing.

"I wouldn't suggest that." Thor's friendly voice was still loud, but it was no longer friendly. It was cold. "The Jacksons and the Chase girl have won favors in the eyes of the gods in many pantheons, my realm being one of them." There was a slam. "If you think you can interrogate them to betray their family, the gods _will not _allow you to. Not," he added, "that they would."

"Thor, sit down. I will interrogate them, and I _will_ find-"

He never got to finish. I fell out of the ventilation shaft, seeing red. I'd slashed a line in it with my knife and now I was glaring at Fury.

"You have no idea who Heracles really is, do you?" I asked icily. "He's an egogistical selfish idiot who simply stands on an island all day. Not a great hero, not anymore. My brother and I have met and made a few _primordial beings_ angry! Not to mention Zeus! Let's get one thing straight: I'm not selling my family out. Neither is Annabeth or Percy, because you know what? We have suffered through too much to give something like that away! We've bathed in a river that gave us immortality, for the gods' sakes! We've nearly been killed dozens of times, all to protect you _mortals _from the _end of the world!_ So stop asking questions and actually _do _something!"

"We did, we stopped an alien army from destroying Manhattan!" Tony snapped.

I snorted. "And they were just aliens. My brother and I had to fight the _father _of _Zeus _to stop the world from ending, and then we had to face Mother Earth herself, Mr. Stark. And when one is an ultra-evil Titan who killed his father and hates Zeus and another is an ultra-evil _primordial who is the earth_, you tend to think an alien army is an everyday occurence."

There was a dead silence.

"You fought _Kronos_? _**And**_ _Gaea?_" Thor asked, his face a deathly white.

Instantly, I turned around, unwilling to face them.

"And I lost a lot of people doing both."

~:~

Passing some agents, I walked into the room Percy, Annabeth and I would share.

Originally, Percy and I were going to share a room, but I had told them we couldn't sleep without each other there. Flashbacks screwed with our minds.

I went to my bed and flipped a drachma up, then went to the bathroom and locked myself in.

Turning on the faucet, I created a rainbow and asked Iris to accept my offering as I threw the coin in.

"Sally Jackson," I said, and before I said the address, it appeared. Mom looked sad, Paul rubbing her back.

"Mom, Paul," I said, filled with relief.

They both looked up.

"Yes?" she asked, smiling at me.

Paul raised an eyebrow.

_"Ludus Schola _Syndrome? Really, Skye?" he asked, shaking his head. "It's a good thing the principal of Midtown High is a demigod."

I was floored.

"You're joking," I said, disbelief in my tone. "All this time I could have been going to Principal Sam?"

Paul nodded. "Yeah..."

I groaned. "Lovely. Anyway...I was calling to tell you I have been unexpectedly thrusted into yet another adventure which I didn't want."

Mom and Paul looked crestfallen.

"However," I added, "I still have no idea on where this unexpected journey shall take me."

"Perhaps to Erebor?" Percy joked, appearing from the mist inside the bathroom. Another thing we'd just started doing: using water to teleport.

"I don't know, I'm not sure if we're going to have to take down a dragon," I joked back.

Mom and Paul watched us with wistful looks on their faces. I smiled at them, and they smiled back.

Then Mom seemed to shake herself out of it and looked at Paul with a worried look.

Paul took a deep breath, but nodded.

"Kids," Mom began, "we need to tell you something. I'm not...from this planet."

A dead silence.

"Mom," Percy said, all traces of joking aside, "are you high?"

That would have been funny if this wasn't so serious.

"My father died on this planet, yes, but my mother was from another realm. Years ago a man sought to conquer my home, and my mother alone escaped. My Light Elf side was gifted with a single power each, and I chose to see the past of my planet, Svartlfheim. My father, however, was a man named Howard Stark."

I took in a breath. "Howard Stark...Tony Stark's dad?! Why didn't you tell us sooner?!"

"Because I believed you needed to know because I'm pregnant with Paul's child, and I'm asking you to take care of her like she was your own," Mom said tiredly. "And my mother abandoned me on this planet."

"What realm are you from?" Percy questioned softly.

"A realm called Svartlfheim. My mother was a native and was different from the rest of those people, the Dark Elves. Mother was a Light Elf, as was her mother, and could live a long time." Mom looked exhausted. "Paul can't take care of her because he won't remember any of this. I'm dying, Percy, Skye."

I stood as still as Percy.

"Why?" Percy asked hoarsely.

"Because humanity and Light Elf mixed with Dark Elf doesn't exactly mix, Percy," she said. "I never wanted to tell you, because I thought I could fight off the sickness."

"What about our little sister?" I asked, my mind running over hundreds of possibilities.

"She's going to be three-fifths human," Mom said. "So can you come home, one last time, before I die?"

"Will Paul remember us?" I choked out.

Mom nodded. "Yes, but not me. He'll be your father from now on. Anyone who remembers me will forget rather quickly, different memories will fill the spot. Unless it's the gods, demigods...that's it. Records will fit Paul's version."

Paul took over. "You two were left on the streets when you were fourteen and I took you in. I know of your demigod heritage and you two found your little sister on the streets days ago."

Seamless. "Okay." This time, Percy was the one choking. "We'll be there soon."

"Hurry," Mom urged.

I swept my hand through the IM.

I hugged my brother.

~:~

"Loki!" I called, seeing the trickster god in the cage. I'd had someone (a quick IM to Leo took care of the situation) disable the cameras in the cage they'd put him in so I could sneak down there.

"Yes, mortal?"

They'd placed him in the cage after my outburst, probably because they didn't want to babysit him anymore.

"Do you know how to help a dying, pregnant Light-slash-dark-slash-human/elf hybrid?" I asked, badly needing to know.

Loki looked amused. "Why should I help you?"

I met his eyes. "Because she's my mother."

Loki looked a little shocked.

"Hmm," he said. "I actually have an idea. Use the life of the child to save the mother."

I raised my eyebrows. "Kill my half-sister? Is there any other way?"

"Nope," Loki replied. He looked truthful. But he could be pretending to be truthful...I'd just have to trust him. For now.

I sighed and raked a hand through my hair.

This was turning out to be a very, very horrible day.

~:~

We, meaning Percy and I, used our mist-traveling abilities to go to Mom and Paul. Mom was panting, her very big stomach making it evident that she had been using magic or something to hide her pregnancy from Percy and I.

I was by her side in an instant, recalling everything from the females-only motherhood class that we had to take in Goode. We had to have 'nine months of pregnancy' (actually, it was only two classes, and we just put a soccer ball under our sweatshirts. That was a requirement, the sweatshirts), then the breathing class (yeah...most of the class was hyperventilating, me included, because we weren't doing it right), THEN we got a robo-baby for the yearly project.

My robo-baby was destroyed within the first twenty minutes because of an accident involving a ghost, the Minotaur, Pasiphaë, the Labyrinth, and a goat. It was a day before Hera wiped our memories, so I didn't have to deal with the fallout of killing my robo-baby.

Anyway, I was by her side and telling her very calmly, "Breathe, Mom. Breathe." She did, and Percy was staring at me like I was an alien.

I turned to Paul. "Call 911, tell them we have a pregnant woman about to deliver a baby."

"No," Mom gasped. "You'll have to deliver her."

I felt like hyperventilating, but nodded. "Okay," I said, and I sounded like I was being strangled.

About seven hours later I was holding a baby girl in my arms and watching Mom relax.

"Take care of her," Mom instructed Percy and I. Paul stared at his blood-daughter and kissed her head.

"What's her name?" I asked hoarsely. Mom looked at Paul.

"Since you two have Greek names, Paul decided on Alexandra Harmonia Alexis Jackson."

I snorted. "Aren't those American names?"

Mom fixed me with a steely look. "Poseidon helped him with those, though he tried to get us to adopt his goddess daughter Kymopoleia."

"Oh, Kym, she's actually welcome," I said, smiling happily.

"She's been blessed by Poseidon and infused with part of his DNA, so she's technically your full-blooded half-sister," Paul said, smiling.

"That's a conficting statement," I said automatically. "Though I suppose that it would be a correct statement, too," I added thoughtfully. I shook my head and looked at Mom, who was staring at me, looking shocked. I saw Percy and Paul also staring at me, making me feel self-conscious. "What?" I squeaked.

"You do know things," Percy said in obvious awe. "_English_ things!"

I gave my brother a frosty look.

"I'm not stupid, little brother."

"You are the little one!"

"No you are!"

"Both of you are the same exact age!" Mom said, making us look at her in obvious question. She rolled her eyes. "A girl helped me bring you into this world, a girl by the name of Rose Sapphire. She's the daughter of Kronos and has a lot more powers than her father." Mom shrugged, though it looked like she was putting a lot more effort into her shrug than was appropriate. "She worked in Nursing for a while before she left."

"Oh," I said, nodding and pretending that it made total and complete sense.

"Oh," Mom said, grabbing my hand. "I need to tell you something. You have a sister-a half sister named Katara."

I stared at Mom. "You mean to tell me," I began, barely controlling my temper, and I looked at Percy to see his nostrils were flaring (and, had it been in a different situation, I would've laughed, but since Mom was on her deathbed I didn't think it was appropriate), "that Katara could have been the ones in _both _prophecies?!"

Mom closed her eyes and nodded. "I love you, Percy, Meda, and Alex."

I sniffled, forgetting about my tough façade. Calling me 'Meda', an old nickname I'd stopped using after Luke had turned to the Dark Side (NOT of the Force, thank you very much), could do that. Luke, Thalia, and Annabeth had made that nickname up. I would probably start going by it again, just to honor both Mom and Luke.

I knew that Percy was dropping his own façade as well; right now, we had no need to pretend that we were oh-so-tough.

"I love you too, Mom," we whispered in sync.

She looked at Paul and he nodded and kissed her forehead.

Our mom breathed her last breath.

~:~

We burned her body at the beach, Kymopoleia deciding to take us up on our offer and choosing to stay with us. Posiedon and Amphitrite stood there, Amphitrite looking decidedly uncomfortable on the beach, on two legs, at a funeral of her husband's ex-lover.

I stepped up and could feel the heat of the burning funeral pyre.

I looked to Percy, and he nodded.

I gave Alex to Amphitrite, who I smiled at when she looked at me in shock. When Poseidon had affairs, they weren't just flings like Zeus'. They were with genuinely beautiful women, inside and out. And Amphitrite seemed to know that.

I held my hands out to the sea, and the waes responded to us. Percy and I worked together, and the end result was our mother's pyre being swept out to sea.

As it grew smaller, Percy and I said our final goodbyes and I took Alex from Amphitrite. Kym followed us as we left to Camp.

~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~

_Hi, angelslaugh here! Hate me yet? Lol. Anyway, this chapter was supposed to be for New Years, but I'm sorry that I finished it late! I'll get the next chapter up as fast as I can!_


	7. Explanations, Blue Chitauri, and a Titan

When we brought Kym and Alex to the Helicarrier, Kym decided to announce herself dramatically by making a storm roll in, thunder roll, and lightning flash-

No, I can't joke about this. Kym stalked into the room, her head held high. Passing Thor and Loki, who now sat at the 'Avengers Table' with the rest, she looked at Nick Fury with haughtiness.

"You ever anger my half sisters and I will bring the wrath of my father down upon you," she said, then she turned and sat down at the table, looking at Tony Stark like a shark would its dinner.

I cleared my throat, holding Alex close to me.

"Hey," I said very quietly. Alex stirred, but kept sleeping.

Percy walked into the room, and many agents turned to look at us when I walked in and announced, "We had to bring our newly-born half-sister Alex with us...really, she's our real-half-sister. Don't ask," I added upon seeing Fury's questioning face. "I didn't ask my dad how he did it, so..." Thor stood and towered over Alex and I.

Right as he opened his mouth, I shot him a frightening glare that made Percy shudder (and his back was to me).

Thor paled and backed off.

My glare softened as I looked at Alex.

Loki suddenly appeared. "May I hold her?"

I looked around the table. Percy shrugged and Kym smirked as I looked to them for guidance; seeing most of the others' expressions (excluding Tony's, he just looked relieved that Kym had stopped staring at him) turn wary and furious (guess who_ that _one belonged to? Haha).

I shrugged. "Sure."

I held her out gently to Loki.

Alex stirred and blinked, her green eyes looking up at Loki sleepily.

"She's beautiful," Loki murmured, so low I barely heard it.

I smiled. "That's my mom shining through." I knew my smile turned sad.

After a few minutes, I took Alex back and sat down at the table.

"So," I said, quite lowly, "what's going to happen? Why did Fury nab us?"

Annabeth laughed softly under her breath at my statement.

"I'm sure you've heard of Loki's attack on New York," Fury began.

I shrugged. "No, not really. Why, what'd he do?"

Percy looked like he was valiantly trying to supress his laughter as Fury glared angrily at me for my interruption.

"He set aliens on New York, that's what!" he snapped.

"Oh..." I turned to Loki. "Were they green?"

Loki looked confused, then awareness dawned on him. "No. They were blue."

I looked at Percy and Annabeth, and, with rising amusement, we recalled our 'blue food' family.

We looked at Fury again.

"Anyway, the aliens were called the Chitauri-"

Percy burst into laughter at the name, Annabeth's quiet laugh echoing her. My snickers also filled the room.

"Is there something funny?" Fury growled.

"Yes," I said, sobering up quickly. "The Chitauri? It sounds like...well, you know." I saw Natasha smirking a little.

Fury looked...well, furious.

"Tone down the glower, Nick," I said, quite insolently. "Medusa could come and freeze your face like that, for like, ever!"

"Yeah!" Percy supplied. "And, just for the record, Medusa _is_ real. Ever meet a lady named 'Aunty Em' that owns a Garden Gnome Emporium...my advice is-"

"Never eat her cheesburgers or agree to take a picture with her," Annabeth finished, shooting a glare at Percy.

"Hey! I didn't know that the lady was Medusa!"

"It's _just _a picture, Annabeth!" I mimicked, doing Annabeth's voice just right. Comes with living with the girl practically all my life.

Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"Go to the crows," she said, and I rolled my eyes at her.

"It sounds more threatening if you say it in Greek," I said, quite dryly.

Annabeth muttered something about seaweed brains and idiot sisters.

"That's off topic," Fury snarled. "PAY ATTENTION."

I sighed, but then nodded. "Alright. So aliens attacked New York. Okay."

"You don't sound surprised," Steve said. "That they attacked New York, at least."

I shrugged. "I'm not. A lot of things seemed to happen-especially around New York, 'cause the gods are located there and stuff."

"I thought they lived on-" began Tony, but Thor, FINALLY using what normal people called an 'inside voice' said something that made me groan.

"Holding the Empire State Building was a great thing you did, Andromeda."

I flinched at his praise, all of the attention now on us.

"The Empire State Building?" Tony asked, frowning a little. "Is that how you know of Skye?"

"They commanded a great army, hundreds of demigods against thousands of monsters!" Thor said, looking excited. I flinched again. "I have heard the tale sung! Many children of Asgard-"

"It wasn't hundreds," I said quietly. I set Alex on the table, away from the edge, and looked into the distance, unseeing of everything around me, remembering the battle. "It was a little over fifty demigods, including Artemis' hunters. Percy and I led that group. The Hermes cabin went to steal some things from stores, the Apollo cabin having needed medical supplies. The Aphrodite cabin went with them to steal some Givenchy perfume-apparently monsters hated the smell. And, FYI, were were outnumbered, like, 5000 to one." I blinked, refocusing onto the present. You could have heard a pin drop. "Annabeth was wounded seriously in the battle. A lot of demigods died." I took of my necklace and showed them the seven glimmering beads that rested there and touched the fifth one. "Kronos' army was bigger than Gaea's, and she had her most ugly children with her. Sure, Damasen doesn't really count, he was nicer than any Earthborn or any giant. Anyway, Kronos had _all_ of Titankind on a leash, excluding those peaceful Titans like Calyspo, all because of a few unclaimed demigods. Oh, I was plenty angry at my own dad at the time. I didn't want Kronos to kill the gods! But Kronos...he was winning. As a final-and desperate-act, we appealed to the ringleader, who also just so happened to be Kronos' host." I looked around the table and nearly stopped. But I continued on. "Luke Castellan was like a brother to me, like Annabeth and Thalia are like siblings to me, and how Percy IS my biological brother. A long time ago, we made a promise. He promised us someday that we'd be family." I looked at Thor and Loki, a lump in my throat. "But he broke it. Annabeth's knife was the cursed blade, and Percy handed it to him, trusting him to make the right desicion." I was unable to go on, and Percy started as I covered my mouth.

"Luke was the true hero of Olympus. He had to choose whether or not to end Olympus...or end himself. Luke chose to end himself when he remembered the promise. He made _us,_ as in Skye and I, promise to not let the unclaimed stay the unclaimed." Percy looked Fury dead in the eyes (or eye). "So you can say you protected New York. Those aliens only had guns, right?"

Natasha nodded when he looked at her for confirmation. I knew Percy was just guessing.

"The Titans had immortality and magic on their side," Percy said, quite softly. "And we had about sixty demigods and twenty centaurs on our side against thousands of monsters, plus Typhon-who my dad chained up, and Skye and I released during our trip to Mount Saint Helens-to worry about. By the way, Typon is so big he could use the Chrysler Building as a baseball bat," he added. "Anyway, we aren't the heroes..." he finished lamely. "Luke is."

Thor looked sad. "But how? How did you survive?"

"Because they're the Jackson twins," Annabeth said, smirking. "They've survived worse."

_Like Tartarus._

"Yeah," I agreed quietly. I turned to Fury and stood. "So unless you have something oh-so-important, like, oh, I don't know, a giant primordial being to kill us all, we should leave."

"It has to do with a Titan, though not one you know," Loki said, speaking up.

I turned to him. "Name?"

"Thanos."

I shrugged. "Never heard of the guy." I sat back down and grabbed Alex. "Tell me about this Titan."

"He's mad, he's purple, and he's a Titan," Loki said, looking at me quite crossly.

I blinked. "Oh. So you mean he's an alien, less powerful version of Kronos."

"I wouldn't say that if I were you, he is a powerful foe," Thor said, looking quite grave. I turned to Percy.

"It's amazing that they think I would listen!"

"I know," Percy agreed easily.

I looked up to the ceiling, a wicked smirk across my face.

"Hey, ya pesky, alien Titan! You should have a Galaxy's Ugliest Face Award! I'm sure you'd win!"

Alex murmured, but thankfully didn't wake up. I looked down to see everyone looking at me like I was crazy.

"What? If he's purple, he's _got _to be ugly!"


	8. Just For The Night

_It's my duty as a demigod, Percy, to protect the things I hold dear. Though I suppose they should be considered __**people**__, since Annabeth and you aren't exactly __**things.**__ -Andromeda Jackson_

~:~

"Mad Titans?" Percy repeated. "Are you fricking kidding me?"

Annabeth sighed. "Percy, you're such a Seaweed Brain."

"We can't catch a break, can we?" Percy demanded, ignoring his girlfriend.

"Apparently not," I replied dryly. "This universe seems intent on screwing up our lives." I looked down at Alex with adoration. "However, in this case with a twist."

"I wish," Annabeth suddenly said, "that I could finally go to New Rome with you two."

"What, so the universe could actually give us a break?" I snorted. "As if. The Fates are intentionally cruel."

"I highly doubt that," Annabeth remarked.

I looked at her dubiously, and she lowered her eyes.

"You're right," she said a minute later, thinking of Luke and his sacrifice-the broken thread Percy had seen years earlier.

"What are you talking about?" Percy asked. We looked at him.

His eyes widened. Then a shadow fell over his face.

"I shouldn't have given him the dagger."

"No, Percy, you did the right thing," Annabeth said. I nodded.

"Chin up, Percy. We all did the best we could for a while." I set Alex in her crib and Kym entered the room, another bed materializing in the now-homely room.

"Yeah-ugh," Percy said, going a little green, Kym and I going sheet white as the Helicarrier went into the air.

"Crap," Kym, Percy and I all said in unison.

Alex started crying.

~:~

It took three hours and fourty-five minutes of soothing to make Alex stop crying.

Percy and I, relieved, had forgotten about the Helicarrier being in the sky.

Kym was sound asleep, as was Annabeth.

As was usual, I turned to Percy.

"I'll take first watch." I wasn't too tired; Percy looked dead on his feet. Not surprising, really. The Heroes of Olympus had gone and taken a dip in the River Styx. Minor wounds would break through the skin, like scrapes, cuts, blah blah. We could still get wounded and it could still get infected, but if Percy and I were vigilant, we made sure that no poisoned blades went near anyone (especially Annabeth). While Annabeth and Percy weren't particularly damaged by Tartarus, I'd definitely seen it the real way when I went to bed and somehow helped them along the way and thus got hit with very real nightmares.

I had never figured out just how I'd actually been to Tartarus and returned to the ship in the morning...honestly, I didn't want to know.

I took a deep breath as I settled back in the chair, reading a book written in Ancient Greek.

~:~

Morning dawned. We were safely back in the ocean and had been since around two. Percy, Annabeth, and Kym were all awake. I hadn't slept, not that I'd actually gotten a decent night's sleep since, oh, Peter let us get knocked out.

Which hadn't been too long ago, actually.

Still, I never slept anymore. The nightmares I'd had...they terrified me.

I took a deep breath and kept feeding Alex, and when she had to get burped I didn't flinch.

Kym announced she was going to babysit for an hour, then Alex would be dropped off with Percy later. He thanked her and Kym vanished.

After Kym left, Percy turned to me.

"You need sleep."

It was stated simply enough, but I gave him a glare.

"I'm fine," I lied, standing up and exiting the room.

I was able to catch a glimpse of my reflection and sighed. I looked the same, if not a little paler and with bags under my eyes.

Percy was right, I did need sleep. Yet I couldn't. Percy had me or Kym to wake him and Annabeth up, but nothing could wake me up except the end of the dream.

I stopped for a minute, seeing the Avengers sit around a lab table, talking and laughing.

I smiled a little, then moved on to my actual destination.

"Hey, Loki," I greeted. Loki turned to me.

Apparently, whenever the Avengers got fed up with playing babysitter with Loki they tossed him in the cage he was in now. A little stupid, actaully.

"Hello, Skye-"

"Meda, call me Meda." At his raised brow, I shrugged. "I'm trying to honor my brother and mother."

"Your brother...Luke?"

A smirk touched my lips. "Well, well. You actually know my history."

"Only a little," the trickster confessed.

I slid down on my knees. "Enough about me. Do you really have a horse child?"

Loki snorted. "Yes, his name is Sleipnir...he does, however, detest me. He prefers a friend over me."

"A friend?" I asked, tilting my head.

"I cannot tell you who he is out loud." I tapped my skull. He nodded.

Carefully, I opened my mind.

_You mortals call him the Archangel Gabriel._

My eyes widened. There _was_ a God!

"Cool," I said out loud. "It's nice to know we aren't alone in this universe." I smiled cheekily at him...and then I stood up and opened his cell door, then slipped into it, flipping my middle finger at the camera.

"Why would you come in here?" Loki asked, seemingly puzzled.

I snorted. "Not like anyone else comes in here. I figured why not; you don't seem as arrogant as Zeus."

"I'd hesitate to insult him if I were you," Loki warned.

I shrugged. "Why should I? I have the Curse on me like I and Percy did when we fought Kronos."

Loki blinked. "Where's the-"

"I'm sure as Hades not going to trust you with it!" I snapped, folding my hands and fighting th urge to

Yeah...my mortal point was obvious. If Loki knew how to take down Percy, he wold be able to take me down. Hopefully he won't pry furthur.

"Oh." Loki looked marginally disappointed.

I patted him on the shoulder. "Don't worry, Loki. I don't even trust Chiron with this...so tell me about your kids."

"Well, there's Sleipnir, Fenrir, Thorne-"

"Thorne?" I asked, frowning and tilting my head. Loki grinned.

"Yes, Thorne. She's...not one to associate with Asgard; she's Fenrir's twin, but learned to shapeshift before Odin found out about her and locked her up too." Loki's tone was dark. Then he seemed to shake himself out of it. "There's also Hela and Jörmungandr. Narfi and Vali, two of my other children, have been dead for a long time."

"I'm so sorry," I whispered.

Loki shrugged. "It was a long time ago," he said, and I huffed. "What?"

"You don't get over a loss, no matter how much you say otherwise, Loki. Somewhere, deep inside of you, is probably still mourning for them." I patted his arm. "It's okay to mourn."

Loki looked at me, his emerald eyes revealing nothing.

"So is it true you can be a girl?" I asked, casting away the old conversation. For a few hours, we talked like old friends, talking about nothing and everything. Loki even magicked food into the container while he talked animatedly about magic and its potential uses, and it soon turned into a debate that turned into a quiet, welcome silence.

I yawned a little. Nobody had disturbed us for quite a while, and I almost contacted Percy with my location, but found myself drifting to sleep.

I shifted and stood up, trying to shake its grasp off of me.

"Sit," Loki ordered. I shook my head.

"I'll fall asleep. That's something I don't want," I said, but he pulled me down next to him.

"I don't get visitors very often, and when I do they normally chain and gag me with anti-magic cuffs. However, I can use my magic when in here. But only in here," he said, and I raised my eyebrow.

"Yeah, you told me-"

"So, if you want," he interrupted, "I can keep the nightmares at bay for a while."

I hesitated.

"You look awful, by the way. All pale and sickly-they might scream if they see you," he said, his lips twitching (no, I was _not _looking at his lips...okay, I totally was).

"Funny," I said sarcastically, but accepting his offer and sitting next to him. "I'm laughing so hard it's killing me," I said, still using sarcasm.

"Good," he said, full-out smirking.

I set my head on his shoulder.

"You know," I said, feeling my eyelids get heavy (his shoulder was very, very comfortable), "you should tell Thor the truth about why you 'killed' him in New Mexico."

I wasn't able to hear Loki's reply; I was already fast asleep.

~:~

Loki said nothing as he looked down at the mortal he'd promised to safeguard through the night. She was...perceptive. Quite perceptive.

He'd heard tales of the mighty Perseus and Andromeda Jackson twins; they had all been lies, twisted by months of retelling. All Aesir had started to look up to the two Greek warriors, but then Odin banned all mention of the Greeks. Of course, last time Loki had been up there, hushed stories had been told between guards-the guards who had, of course, been guarding his cell.

He'd heard that Andromeda had defeated Gaea _and _Kronos, said to be an impossible defeat. Hel, even Odin's grandfather had tried to help the Greeks the first time with Kronos and had nearly the entire army decimated.

That's probably why the Greeks didn't like them...

He'd heard some of them whispering that the twins had _given up immortality_; the fact that immortality had been _offered _itself was practically unheard of. The fact that Percy had asked for something different and Andromeda had expressed no wishes, merely the fact that she was truly angry at the gods was another thing entirely.

And after the Giant War...when Gaea had awoken and had been unbelievably angry and Loki had quickly learned that the leftover Heroes of Olympus were to be immortal upon their mortal deaths _and _a wish of the gods...

It was unheard of. Then again, two major wars featuring the same heroes was bound to be unheard of.

In all honesty, Odin hadn't even heard of Andromeda and Perseus until Heimdall had sent for the Royal Family and told him about the two demigods; the two Greek heroes.

Meda, currently, looked peaceful in her sleep. She looked almost exactly like-

No. The past was in the past (Loki snorted at that thought. Thor had made him and the Avengers watch the movie frozen and now he had that damn song stuck in his head).

Arianna was no more; she had died ages ago.

Yet, he mused, perhaps she wasn't as dead as he thought.

He gazed down at Meda again and let some of his magic block her memories from making her have nightmares.

Perhaps, for one night, he could bear the solitude.


	9. Ignoring Avengers, Escaping to Greece

"Meda, wake up," a voice said, quite insistently.

"Hmm?" I sleepily asked, blinking. "Don't wanna."

"The Avengers are staring at you." It was simply stated.

"How long have I been asleep?" I asked.

"Three hours," was his reply.

"Then the Avengers can go screw themselves." I sank back into the warm embrace of sleep.

~:~

Loki had been on the verge of sleep himself, but the clatter of the Avengers made him become more aware. He poked Meda, but she just kept sleeping soundly.

"Meda," he said quietly. "Meda, wake up."

"Hmm?" Meda asked, blinking a little. "Don' wanna." She missed the 't' but she was so tired she probably thought she said 'don't'.

"The Avengers are staring at you," Loki said softly. _And probably listening._

"How long have I been asleep?" came the tired question.

"Three hours," Loki responded mutedly.

"Then the Avengers can go screw themselves," she replied, falling back asleep almost immediately afterwards.

He looked at the Avengers and smirked at them.

"What are you doing to her?" her brother's fiancée questioned.

"Simple magic to keep her memories at bay whilst she is sleeping. It will only work if I am in the room," he readily responded.

"Stop-" Fury began, but Percy held up a hand, effectively shutting him up.

"Leave them alone. I'll have Kym bring some-"

"Are you insane? He'll kill her!" Fury said. Percy's face went cold.

"With all undue respect, _sir,_ Meda hasn't slept without tranquilizers in months without having nightmares of _both _wars," Percy said, still glaring at him. "I would like it if you allowed my sister to recuperate, seeing as if she looks that pale again I'm going to think she's spent some time in the Underworld." Percy's aura was something that felt tangible. He turned to Loki. "You hurt her, I'll kill you," he promised. "I'll ask Kym if she'll bring a few cushions and some blankets."

"Everyone, let the two get some sleep," Annabeth said, crossing her arms and scowling.

Loki raised an elegant eyebrow.

"Thank you," he sid after everyone but Annabeth had left.

"I'm not doing it because I know you're lonely," Annabeth said, turning to face him. Percy's fiancée's gray eyes regarded him; he was almost shocked at the look in her eyes that seemed...beyond. They had seen a lot. More than Loki could have guessed. He'd thought that the Greek demigods were savages before hearing of Percy and Andromeda-but he realized they must have been based on Odin's prejudice.

"I know," he responded, not saying that he knew what she meant by saying that, he knew Annabeth's unspoken sentiment: _She's lonely._ "I will not hurt her." Loki tried to convey his seriousness, and thankfully Annabeth nodded to show she'd recieved his response.

"Good," she said after a few minutes of silence. "If you do...I will-"

"Kill me?" Loki sighed.

"Yep," Annabeth said, smirking a little in humor.

_Apparently everyone wants to kill me...not that I blame them,_ Loki thought.

Silence reigned. Loki nodded off, his head coming to rest on Meda's.

~:~:~:~:~:~

Six hours later found the two demigods waking up on cushions and slightly on each other.

"Sorry," Meda said, stretching. She looked refreshed.

"It's fine," Loki replied.

Meda grinned at him and said, in a mischievous tone, "Want to go somewhere not on the Helicarrier?"

"And just how will I get out of this cage, let alone this flying beast?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Leave it to me," Meda grinned. She closed her eyes. After a few minutes, she smiled triumphantly and looked at Loki. "Come on!"

Loki looked at her patiently.

"The door," he reminded her...just as it slid open.

"They need to stop using hydraulics," she commented lightly.

Loki gave her an impressed look.

~:~

"Sir...I don't know how they did it, but Meda and Loki are gone," an Agent Lock gulped.

The Avengers looked at each other. Percy feigned shock, as did Annabeth, Kym, and Alex (though she didn't even know).

"I'll go start a face trace," said Agent Lock, fleeing the shocked Avengers.

"Who would be stupid enough to kidnap two demigods?" Kym asked, frowning. "Especially one who was offered immortality..."

"SHE'S A GODDESS?!" Clint yelped, Tony spitting out his drink.

Kym looked at him blankly. "No, she turned it down." She turned to Percy and handed Alex over to him. "I'll be back. I'll see if I can find the evil bastards that did this."

Kym snapped and was gone.

~:~

MEANWHILE...

"I know, it's good, right?" Meda said, smirking. She looked at the waiter and grinned. The waiter bowed and, with a flourish, set the bill down.

"Anything else?" he asked. The hot Grecian sun beat down upon them.

"Do you accept drachmas?" Meda asked, giving the waiter a dazzling smile.

The waiter gasped when she produced two of the solid gold coins.

"Yes, yes!" he said. "One drachma, only, please. It would be too much for two drachmas. May the gods watch over you."

"And may the blessing of Poseidon reach you!" Meda called back. She looked at Loki and shrugged at his questioning look. "Greeks are very tolerant of pagans. I've heard they've begun restoring the temples. My guess is the gods going back to Olympus in a burst of light made them start again."

"And you are okay with that?" Loki asked her, tilting his head. Meda nodded.

"Well, yeah. I kind of have to be. I _am _a demigod," she said, lowering her voice when she said 'demigod'. "I'm not too surewhat they'd do if they knew you were Loki, the actual Norse deity."

"Gods cannot go on other gods' territory without permission," Loki said.

"Which is why I became 100 percent sure that you were a demigod. This," she gestured around the area, "is the gods' ancient lands. My father started here." Her eyes seemed to dance. She shook her head. "I feel...safer, here. I know if I ever need my father's aid, all I must do is ask."

"What about when western civilization moves?" Loki questioned, "to Scandinavia or someplace with other gods?"

"Then there will be a terrible war," Meda responded, her eyes seeming to glow. "And the world will be torn in two." She blinked and the glow was gone.


	10. Broken, Advice, and Loki's Cell-less

_Sometimes you have to live and face the pain. Other times you're lucky and you die like a hero. Me? I guess facing the pain is what I do. –Andromeda Jackson_

~:~:~:~

Kym appeared as Loki and Meda were walking next to the ocean. In Loki's eyes, years of worries seemed to fall off of Meda. Although she was a warrior, sometimes you had to weather the pain the years caused. She'd probably watched family and friends die-and her mother _did _just die.

"There you are," Kym said, though it was in a bored tone. "I've been searching everywhere for you two."

She looked around and looked faintly surprised at their location. "Seriously? Greece?"

"I thought it was a better idea than Scandinavia," Meda retorted. "Plus, I think all demigods inherently know where Greece and Rome are."

"Do you have any idea how pissed Fury is?" Kym questioned.

"I really don't care," Meda said casually. "Can you come and get us later?"

Kym sighed, but snapped and was gone.

Loki gave Meda a shocked look. "Why would you risk this?" He waved a hand in the general area of Greece.

"Iknow a broken soul when I see one, Loki."

Her statement brought him up short. He looked at her-_actually _looked at her, not noticing the flawless beauty of her body, but her eyes-and they revealed more than anyone should have to bear. The air seemed thicker all of a sudden as Loki let down his guard too.

Both of them knew the sting of sharp betrayal. Meda had been betrayed by a person she called a brother. They'd both seen death, hate, anger…a never-ending cycle of negativity that seemed to course through everything.

And they've had so much _pain._ Both of them could use sarcasm and pretend they were okay, but at the end of the day, both of them were broken.

Loki had never felt this sort of kinship with anyone. Most people probably thought Loki was heartless, cold-that his heart was frozen. And yet, this girl-this _fragile __**mortal**_ demigod was trying to help fix him.

"How can you live with it?" the words tumbled out of his mouth before he could stop them. "The hatred, the anger?"

Meda laughed. "Sometimes you have to live and face the pain. Other times you're lucky and you die like a hero. Me? I guess facing the pain is what I do." She gazed out at the sea. "I was never one of the lucky ones. Luke got off on his own pain easily. I have to live with the consequences of having a brother who hated the Olympians." She bent down to trail her fingers in the water. "I don't have all the answers and I'm positive that there's a part of us that'll always stay broken." She raised her hands from the water and flicked the water back into the ocean. "But how big that part is? It's really up to you. Only you can decide that."

Loki considered this. Both of them shared some events-but torture he didn't think was one of them. Especially when it screwed his own mind up.

"How can you heal a mind that's broken?" he softly asked her. Meda blinked.

"Figure out what's real and what isn't," she replied. Kym appeared.

"I have to take you back now. Fury's actually in the hospital because of his blood pressure." Kym looked positively gleeful about Fury's blood pressure. She didn't seem too interested in taking the two demigods back to the ship.

"Okay, fine," Meda grumbled, an amused look appearing on her face. Suddenly, she hit Kym, who hit her back. Both went down fighting on the sand, leaving Loki wondering _what in Hel just happened?_

~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~

I hit Kym one last time and she hit my nose and I yelped in shock.

"Okay, I'm sorry," I yelled as she went to slug me again.

"Why pick a fight with me in the first place?" Kym questioned me. I shrugged, still holding my nose, which was bleeding.

"Thanos decided to use his magic crap to kidnap us and I kicked his minions' asses while we were locked up somewhere in Greece," I said, and Kym allowed a smirk to grace her face. "Loki was unconscious while this was going on, but his shackles were…ah, _misplaced _and we decided to wait for someone to rescue us. I forgot about my psychic link with Percy and _voilà! _We have a plausible excuse to use."

"I'm impressed. You actually _can _think," Loki snorted. I gave him a mock-glare.

"I take offense at that!"

~:~

"…and so, as you can see, Meda was the only one who got hurt," Kym said, shrugging. "I stayed in the shadows after returning because I knew Meda could handle it."

Percy gave me a knowing look.

_Please tell me you didn't take Loki to Greece, Meda. That was exceptionally stupid._

_**You're one to talk,**_ I sent back at him. _**Who was the one who exploded Mount Saint Helens and got all snuggly with Calypso?**_

…_I hate you sometimes._

_**I know,**_ I smugly replied. Fury glared at me.

"Next time you get kidnapped, use your twin connection thing." I stiffened. Percy's and my twin connection wasn't something I could just use in order to get out of a mess. Granted, he could always find the exact location if he literally vacated his own mind to come into mine if he so desired, but that only happened _once _and it had nasty side-affects. Even Apollo hadn't dared to use it when Artemis held up the sky.

But hey, Percy going into my mind as _I _held up the sky when Atlas had me kidnapped after Artemis and Annabeth had been rescued…he'd saved me. Seriously. I would have collapsed a few minutes later had he not given me the strength. The bad part of it was that Iapetus and Hyperion rescued me…ironic, right? Then they gave me to Kronos and I was able to leave on the basis of me being Mrs. Insane (faking insanity wasn't too hard, actually. I was well on my way then). They tossed me in the Labyrinth-nothing too bad, especially since I literally ran into Percy, Rachel, and Annabeth.

So while I wouldn't say literally mind-connecting is bad, if you aren't prepared for it then it's _really _bad, as in nearly mind-shattering bad.

(Woah, way off topic…) Anyway, the gist of this is, I don't think Percy and my connection should be spoken about as if it was no big deal and I can always use it like I can Wi-Fi (which means like a regular mortal now that Leo's created his McDonald's nugget-scented smokescreen). I can't turn it on and off.

"Fury," I said, after a few second of silence, "you would know if I was dead or not." Fury turned to me.

"How so?" He demanded.

I took my sword and looked at Percy. He nodded and held out his left palm.

I clicked my blade and swept it across my hand.

Blood appeared on both Percy's and my hands, a very real wound on both.

"If I die," Percy said, breaking the silence, "then she dies."

"If I die," I added, "then so does Percy." I set my blade down. "Don't think that our psychic link is something that I can turn off and on-I'm used to it being there that I forget it's there. Sue me. I'm half-human." My voice was flat as I added the last part in.

"Cool," Tony said, breaking the dead silence that followed my statement.

I smirked. "I know." I looked at Loki. He seemed…saddened, for some reason.

"Hey, Thor," Clint said. "When are you going to get more chains for Reindeer Games?"

Tony opened his mouth, grinning, but Thor interrupted him before he could speak.

"I'm afraid those were the only shackles with enough power to hold Loki."

"No biggie," I said, smiling idiotically, thinking of the _perfect _solution. "He can use the empty room next door to mine for his cell. It's an easy solution. I can watch him!" I clapped my hands together.

"Uh..." Natasha began, probably not liking my idea (I don't know why, it was _purr-_fect!). "I'm not sure-"

"THAT, MY DEAR ANDROMEDA, IS A SPLENDID IDEA!" Thor boomed, shutting everyone up. "ANYONE WHO WANTS TO DISAGREE WILL MEET MY HAMMER!"

"I agree with Loki staying with Meda," Kym said, not really paying any attention.

"I do, too," Tony said quickly. Probably not wanting to mess with Thor again-or Loki, seeing as Loki could genderbend each of these people.

"Whatever Meda wants," Percy said agreeably. "As long as she takes Alex."

I shot him a glare. He acted like he hated our little sister!

Annabeth nodded. "If Percy's okay with it, I am too. What's the harm in it?"

_Oh, she really shouldn't have said that._

Fury looked like he just ate a lemon whole.

"Fine," Fury said sourly. "But if Loki gets out of hand, or you get kidnapped again, I will be locking both Meda _and _Loki up, baby or no baby."

I shrugged indifferently. As long as I had Alex, I was fine with that.


	11. A Mini Skit and Warning Signs

_If I was scared of a Titan, I wouldn't have had the guts to kick Gaea's ass. –Andromeda Jackson_

~:~

After Meda had left with Loki in tow, Percy turned to Fury, his face unusually serious.

"Stop pushing her." Fury frowned. "The last time she was pushed to the edge, she showed Kronos what she was made of. Stop pushing her, stop making her angry, because eventually she'll go nuclear."

"Are you threatening me, Perseus?" Fury growled. Percy shook his head.

"No, I'm warning you." His green eyes spooked Fury. For a normally laid-back guy, Percy was…deadly. "Even Meda has her limits. Sooner or later…" He didn't finish. He didn't need to-his warning was perfectly clear.

~:~

Loki settled into his new bunk. He knew Meda wasn't planning on sleep-that much was obvious from the fact she had an Ancient Greek book with her.

She wasn't just using him for his powers…and he was glad. He was beginning to see the light in her eyes that was there whenever she looked at Percy and Annabeth-and it was occasionally there when she looked at him.

She didn't treat him like he was a disease that needed to be stamped out, she treated him like a friend. An equal.

If Loki had been his old self, he'd probably have said 'friends are for incompetent idiots'.

Ever since Arianna had died…

He shook his head. He wouldn't go down that path. Not tonight. Arianna was dead. Meda couldn't be her.

With a sigh, he turned over and heard a bark of laughter from Annabeth and Meda's amused snicker.

Percy's slightly loud protests hit his ears and Loki found himself smirking as he pieced what had happened together-Annabeth had drawn something on his face and both Annabeth and Meda thought it was amusing.

He heard a small cry and then Meda shushing them and his smirk vanished as he started to sink slowly into the clutches of sleep.

Tomorrow was a new day, after all. He'd learn more about the Jackson siblings and maybe start to trust them.

For now, he fell asleep.

~:~

Of course, we'd all pretty much forgotten about Thanos for a few days. Now _that_ is a Titan who could give Kronos a run for his money in 'Killing the Jackson Siblings'. Not, I have to add, that he'd killed both of us.

But that's not important right now. Thanos wasn't someone I had a familial connection with-actually, if we think about it, all our enemies were on the godly side of things. If I hadn't already known about Mom's parents, I would've assumed she had evil parents too. Nope.

Anyway, going back on track…

Since we were having fun on the Helicarrier (Loki and I were just screwing around with the Avengers and Alex was our excuse. We did take care of her, though), we pretty much forgot about Thanos. At least, until the rather dramatic arrival of the Big Three.

We were all in the conference room (an unspoken safe spot/unsafe spot. Anything that happened in that room stayed there), and lightning formed around us, shadows converging. Alex began to cry, and Percy soothed her while I slammed my head into the table.

Fury looked around, but Thor was away-Odin had recalled him using Muninn, one of his crows.

"Overdramatic gods," Annabeth murmured.

Then a huge flash of lightening, a clap of thunder-

Three beings stood before them.

I stood up reluctantly, as did Annabeth and Percy, and knelt before the three gods.

"Father, Uncles," Percy and I said in unison.

Zeus glared at Annabeth, who wasn't looking at him.

"Lord Poseidon," Annabeth said, then addressed the other two. "Lord Hades, Lord Zeus."

"Respect me," Zeus growled. Annabeth gave him an innocent look.

"I hope to one day call Poseidon my father," she explained innocently. "Since I hope to be Percy's fiancée."

I smirked at Zeus' look. Then I coughed as he looked at me, daring me to say something.

"What did you want?" I questioned. "Not as if you're here to see us-other than us being Hades' favorite demigods aside from his son and Poseidon being our father, you don't give a flying drakon scale about us." Though I said it perfectly politely, it was obvious I was being impertinent. And daring Zeus to smite me.

In other words, I had a death wish.

Percy smiled, not apologizing as Zeus looked at him expectantly.

"You've forgotten why you were sent here?" Zeus demanded.

My eye twitched. "What?" I asked icily. Zeus smirked.

"You're to help them get rid of their threat. Or, you know, I could smite you if you so desired."

I sighed. As fast as I had sighed, I had Zeus by the collar of his suit.

"Don't piss me off, Lord Zeus." I heard Loki gasp at what I was doing (Zeus never seemed to take me grabbing him by his collar too personally after the Earth Mother War. I'm sad to say pissing him off is basically a daily thing I did, and I still try to this day! I kind of enjoyed it, too-he got madder than the god of Anger [don't ask, not yet] but he couldn't smite me without pissing off a lot of beings in the process…namely his brothers. It was hilarious). "I'm not that fragile shell of a child I was when the war hit us. I'm more dangerous, got it? I don't care whether you're king of the whole friggin' universe, so don't threaten me. You know you won't risk war with your brothers over a _demigod,_ would you?"

Zeus gulped a little. I realized then I had my wolf-glare on, and quickly smoothed my expression to my poker face. I released him and went back to my seat, grabbing Alex from Kym. Alex seemed to relax instantly.

Loki was staring at me-as was the rest of the Avengers-with pure shock written all over his face. Obviously he didn't know how I was still alive.

I avoided their looks. I didn't want to share my powers with them-yeah, I had quite a few extra powers. The explosion of Mount Saint Helen's wasn't _entirely_ Percy's fault…

I wasn't invincible by any means, I just had more powers than that of the average Big Three child. And thanks to my small stunt as Ms. Insane, I had _**small**_ visions of the future. I haven't been blessed by Apollo or by my uncles-it was accident. Well, the vision thing. The Fates just love to screw with the fates of twins.

I've only heard of two other instances like mine. One was during the Civil War, when twin children of Jupiter had been born. One was a boy, one was a girl. Girl was born first, Boy born last. Girl came into powers of Big Three when she was scared and angry, Boy came into his powers as a son of Jupiter when he was falling into a canyon (like Jason when he was a clean slate and at the Wilderness School at the Grand Canyon. I laughed so hard when I heard that, I think Percy thought I went nuts again). All in all, Girl was killed by Zeus, blah blah blah. Then Hades came about a hundred years later, Girl got all the power, Boy only got his dad's power, Zeus smote the crap out of Girl, and then there was me. A unique case for sure-one, we weren't in a war against mortals, two, I'm a friggin' Hero of Olympus, and I'm pretty sure the demigods would let the mortal world get overrun by monsters (I'm _that_ popular. Last I heard, there were T-Shirts with our names on it…which was kind of freaky, if I'm honest) if Zeus smote me.

Ah, well. Life goes on.

I paid attention to Zeus when he said, oh-so-importantly, "Thanos is acting up. He is sending…_creatures_ similar to the army Loki had. Speaking of which, why isn't he in chains?"

"Cause he's marrying me," I said in a 'duh' tone. I looked at Loki, who just stared at me in shock. You could hear a pin drop. "Remember, Loki? You asked me last night." Might as well give them a lie so that Aphrodite will get off my back (do _not __**ever**_ mention-in the hearing of the goddess of love-that you are still single. EVER!).

Percy snapped his fingers as though he'd remembered something. "Oh yeah! He did! Meda, weren't you planning to go to Asgard to marry him?"

I sighed, as if imagining it. "Yes…a city of gold in the background, my love wearing traditional armor…oh, I can't wait!"

Annabeth looked like she was about to burst out laughing as Loki nodded and played along, finally seeming to get it.

"You would be in your own armor, my love," he said in his velvet voice. I determinedly looked at him, fighting to keep my blush off my face. I see now where he got 'Silvertongue' as a nickname.

"I can't wait~" I sang, still fighting a blush, and turned to see Poseidon and Hades on the verge of laughing as our dramatics were terrible…yet Zeus looked ticked. "What?" I asked him. "Were you expecting me to marry _you?_" It was too much for Percy, he was laughing silently, but tears were streaming down his face.

Zeus was gone in a blink of an eye.

I smirked as Poseidon vanished, as did Hades, moments later.

"Damn, I'm good," I said with pride (unknowing saying something that would be copied in the future by a gigantic metal alien named Sideswipe). I looked at my twin. "Did you see his face?" I cackled.

Percy chortled a bit more. "I can't believe Zeus fell for it!" he laughed.

"That was a joke?" I heard Clint ask Steve, and I smirked as I looked at the mortals.

"Yep. More like an impromptu skit," Annabeth said, finally able to get her laughter under wraps.

"What happens when you and Loki get married?" Tony asked, causing us demigods to stare at Tony like 'what in Hades are you going on about'?

"What are you talking about?" I asked blankly, not getting it.

Tony sighed. "What happens," he said again, "when you guys do get married? I just know you will."

I looked at Loki, both of our faces looking a little horrified at either his suggestion or even the prospect of getting married to each other.

"In what universe," Percy asked, sounding almost as horrified as I felt, "do my sister and Loki get _married?_ If Meda had to get married to anyone, it would have been Luke." I looked at Annabeth. She and I both had secret feelings for Luke at one point in time and Luke _had_ begged me to marry him when I was fifteen, but now… I looked at my brother. He'd gone pale, like he'd just realized what he'd said.

I stood up, Alex held in my arms. "I'll be in our room."

There were looks of confusion in the room.

"But we need to discuss the Chitauri problem!" Fury said, slamming his hand on the conference table. My temper spiked.

"_Leave. Me. Alone,_" I growled.

I stalked off. I didn't know how long I could hold it together. My temper, my powers-

I massaged my forehead as I entered my room.

I set Alex in her crib and paced.

I prayed to the gods that I wouldn't snap-if I did, I put everyone on this Helicarrier in danger.


	12. Kym's a Goddess, I Get Servants

_No, I think you're about to get your ass kicked by my awesome boots. ~Andromeda Jackson_

I watched my hand shake.

"Not good," I murmured. My head swam. I hurried out of the room, and Kym appeared, scaring me a little.

"Girl, you need to get on a deserted island somewhere." Kym touched me, and we were on a random island-I thanked the gods it was a deserted island.

Kym vanished, presumably to make sure Alex was okay.

I fell to my knees as the feeling in the pit of my stomach tightened, and the smell of ozone crackled around me. I gasped as pain jolted my body. Whenever I kept it in for this long, it hurt like when I landed on Calypso's island.

Bright light flooded my vision, and then everything faded to complete black.

~:~

Loki wasn't sure what to think when Percy suddenly grimaced. His fiancée looked alarmed and Fury looked at him, questioningly.

"She's safe-away from people," Kym said, and Percy looked up. His eyes were the opposite of his sister's-they were mostly blue. Yet his eyes were equal parts blue and green. "Well, as safe as she can be on a deserted island." Percy shuddered.

"It hurts," he said quietly, another shudder ripping through him. Kym looked unsympathetic.

"That's what she holds inside her," she said, picking at her nails. "In order for her to actually use it, she needs to be pissed or with adrenaline in her veins-at least the first ten times."

Loki noticed the director looking like he was scheming something.

"However," Kym added, also looking wary of the director, "I don't think she'll be conscious enough to use it-like, at all." Fury looked vexed. Loki simply watched.

"So about this Thanos problem," Tony interjected, stopping Fury from thinking of plans to kidnap his niece (yeah, he'd found out). "What are we going to do about it?"

"Kill him," Fury said in a 'no duh' tone.

Loki snorted. Everyone looked at him.

"That's assuming you can kill his pet," Loki said, looking down at the tabletop. "Its name is the Other. I would not treat Thanos any less deadly then you did me, though I believe it would be considerably easier than how you," he nodded at Annabeth, seeing as Percy had just been knocked out by Kym, and she grinned, "defeated Kronos."

"No obscure prophecies this time," Annabeth chuckled. "Far more straightforward than decimating a Titan."

"Didn't you kill Kronos, though?" Tony questioned. Annabeth snorted.

"Kill him? No. Destroy his consciousness so he spreads so thin he'll never be able to reform? Totally. Even if demigods have to face Kronos again, they can't exactly face Gaea anymore."

"Why not?" Natasha asked.

"Because these demigods killed her consciousness. You know the story of how Ouranos was killed?" Natasha nodded at Kym's question. Kym nodded. "We basically did the same thing with Gaea. We lured her to the sky and smited her ass-"

"Kym…" Annabeth said, with an amused look.

Kym made a face. "Okay, so I wasn't quite there." Kym sighed and flopped down. "I was angry at Dad and the other gods, so…"

"Dad?" Tony asked, tilting his head.

Kym nodded. "I'm a goddess. The goddess of storms and fear." She smiled at Fury's not-so-well-hidden sudden fear. "While I'm not exactly supposed to be interfering, I can if I want. I can't interfere with my mortal children's lives if I had any, and even then I can influence the things around them. Simple, easy, and Zeus doesn't give a flying drakon about me anyway." Kym smiled at Fury frighteningly. "I suppose I actually _like_ Percy and Meda-they're nicer to me."

Percy's head lifted.

"Hey Kym, do you think you could go get Meda?"

Kym shook her head, snorting. "She'd kick my ass, so no way in Hades. I'll send the Trickster to do it."

"Wait a-" Fury said, just as Kym pressed a finger on Loki's forehead.

~:~

Loki landed on an island that was definitely beautiful. Invisible beings grabbed his arm and dragged him to a cave.

He supposed this was Calypso's old island.

The beings that led him there vanished and Loki spotted a bed, and feet hanging off the bed. He'd know those boots anywhere (he would _never_ admit it, though).

When he pushed the curtain aside fully, he saw Meda laying there, her entire body relaxed. Yet…something was wrong.

His head jerked up as one of the invisible beings yanked on his arm frantically, panic clear in the being's movements.

Loki slipped out one of his many daggers and wielded it, his eyes flashing with anger, the air rippling as something stepped onto Calypso's peaceful island.

~:~

When I woke up from my 'Power Unleashed' moment, I heard mutterings and when I opened my eyes I saw-

"Holy mother Rhea," I muttered. The invisible servants of Calypso's island…weren't exactly invisible. They looked like those elves from 'Lord of the Rings', to be completely honest. They were freaking beautiful.

"Mistress," one of them said urgently, shaking me.

"Woah, I am so _not _your mistress!" I squeaked. The woman blinked and stopped.

"You can see us?" she asked, seeming to be puzzled.

"Yeah…" The woman blinked again.

"Then you are our mistress. We shall follow you to the ends of the earth! But that is not of import. Your consort is here, madam, and he is currently being hurt by a…blue guy."

I sighed. I stood up, not particularly caring that I really didn't have the strength for this. The power that I held was slowly killing me.

I hobbled outside (despite the Galadriel-look-alike's protests) and sat on a rock, watching the proceedings.

I told the GLA (Galadriel-Look-Alike) to get me an apple…if she wanted to, since I was planning on looking like an ass like James Kirk did in _Star Trek 2009._

An apple appeared and was handed to me within seconds. I assumed a pose, and watched the Other push Loki to his knees as I quietly bit into the apple, but didn't bite the piece off.

"Do you think me a fool?" The Other growled.

I laughed, making everyone look at me.

I bit into the apple and threw it away quickly, hoping that the GLA lady wouldn't be too mad at me.

"No, I think you're about to get your ass kicked by my awesome boots," I said, grinning and slamming one of said boots into one of the many aliens around Loki. I used my awesome water powers and started humming 'Let It Go' by Idina Menzel (the song that Elsa actually sang in the movie _Frozen_) and Loki started using his ice powers until I was in front of the Other creature. I then kicked the creature in the stomach, and he flew a couple feet backwards. I winced as it banged its head against a rock.

"I hope he's not dead," I said.

"Your wish differs from mine," Loki growled.

"Let's tie him up!" I called, and the GLA appeared with silvery rope.

"This is moonlight, my lady, liquid moonlight that Artemis herself allows to fall upon this island. It is very strong," she said.

I smiled at GLA. "Thank you, Gala-" I stopped, flushing in embarrassment.

"It's okay. Lady Calypso called me Galadri. My true name is-" she broke off and sang something that I couldn't possibly _ever _pronounce.

"I suppose I'll call you Galadri," I said, "if you wish it."

Galadri smiled. "Of course." She snapped her fingers. I had no doubt Loki was wondering what I was talking about. "And your consort here-shall he be allowed to see us?"

I nodded-then shook my head.

"He's not my consort!" I called after her.

Loki was staring at them in amazement.

"They're…" he began to say, and I slapped him. He looked at me, slightly angry. "What was that for?!"

"For not waking me up," was my dry reply. "Now shall we get back to the Helicarrier?"

Loki looked at the trussed-up Other.

"Are we bringing it back?"

I gave him a look that suggested he was an idiot.

"No, we're going to leave him here so he can break free and cause havoc. Yes, we're taking him with us!" I threw up my hands as I began to walk off. "Men are so _stupid!"_

Loki dragged the Other to the edge of the cliff I stood on and looked at the Other and at the bottom of the cliff-

"Don't even think about it," I said.

Loki sighed, but grabbed my arm and teleported us out of there.


	13. Infinity Stones and Stupidity

_Slightly going into Guardians of the Galaxy here…Nebula and the Guardians are in this chapter! _

_~:~_

Thor watched Meda. She, Annabeth, Loki, and Percy had excused themselves from the conference table and were huddled in a corner, probably talking with each other via a mind link Loki had probably made.

The Other's capture had made the Avengers call Heimdall to tell Thor that he was needed. But Thor honestly didn't understand why-until Meda broke away from the group and Loki looked like he was biting back something.

"Thor?" Meda asked hesitantly. "Can you…uh, can you teach me how you control lightning and the weather?"

Thor frowned as far as he knew, Meda could only control water, but if she was asking him for help, it must be something she _needed _to know.

"Perhaps," he allowed. Her father _was _the Stormbringer.

"Thank you," she said with a relieved smile.

She walked back over to the huddled group, and Thor turned his attention to the interrogation video.

Natasha could break any creature on Earth with her quiet stare. Yet the Other remained quiet.

"This isn't working. Send the Jacksons in," Fury said, and both Meda and Percy turned to him. "Let's see how well they can interrogate."

~:~

Percy and I sauntered into the interrogation room.

"You've been replaced, Tasha," I said, my voice cheerful.

Natasha smirked.

"Thank you," Natasha said, though I could somehow tell that she was acting. "This is one creepy thing."

She left.

I sat in one of the chairs backwards, an started to whistle. Percy glared at me. "Can you be serious?

"I am," I said, resuming my whistle.

Percy turned to the Other. "Tell us what you plan."

"Or what?" The Other questioned. I stopped whistling and asked him a question.

"You ever heard of a theory called 'The Jackson Theory'?" I asked, and Percy glanced at me.

"Meda, shut up! The Avengers are watching! We can't tell them!" he said, actually faking worry.

The Other's eyes brightened.

"It's when twins have enough power," I began, and then Percy and I-for the second time-became one single being. We spoke together, we were _one _person, _one _demigod.

"To become one person. It's not common," Percy and I said together, "but it happens. And you are looking at two of the most powerful people on this planet, let alone the Nine Realms." Our tones darkened. "So you don't have to tell us. But we have ways to get that information. So either tell us…or suffer the consequences." Our tones were now sibilant hisses. I knew-from the look in his eyes, that we were smirking and our eyes were dark.

The Other was caught in a web of fear. He spoke.

"We only want the Infinity Stones," he snarled. "And if you can get to the one on Xandar…than I applaud you. But if you cannot…then Thanos has won!"

The Other's life-force vanished, leaving nothing but an empty husk.

Percy and I separated, our minds now entirely separated. I let the disturbing smirk fall.

"I never want to do that again," I said, and Percy agreed with me.

~:~

We stepped out of the interrogation room.

"Can I go back in?" Natasha requested.

"Not much you can get out of a dead body," I responded. Natasha's eyebrows raised. "Not our fault," I added sheepishly. "The Other was scared. What-and where-is this 'Xandar' place?"

Loki was paler than he normally was.

"Loki?" I asked, and they turned to him.

"When I was with Thanos, he mentioned that the planet of the Kree was in your realm. I suppose that is how Heimdall can see trillions of souls."

"So what do we do? Whatever this 'Infinity Stone' does, it can't be good, can it?"

Loki shook his head. "No, it isn't good at all." His grim tone made everyone go into deep thought.

I had a 'lightbulb' moment. "Can Heimdall drop me off at Xandar…wherever it is?"

Everyone turned to stare at me. Even Percy did. Annabeth was probably staring at me because this was an exceedingly stupid idea.

"Meda…we'd need a Hermes kid to steal something, and only someone we can really trust that's a Hermes kid," Percy said slowly.

I rubbed the back of my neck sheepishly.

"Luke didn't just teach me how to bake cookies, Percy," I said. "How do you think I slipped out of camp so easily without Chiron noticing me?"

Percy sighed.

"You sure you want to do this?" Loki asked, and I nodded resolutely.

"Yeah," I said. "Besides, unless I'm dead, I can always talk to you through Percy."

"You are not leaving Loki here," Fury said, scowling. "Either the two of you go or neither of you do."

I gazed at Alex.

"We can keep her with us," Loki suggested. I bit my lip and shook my head. "Gotta keep her safe." I slipped my coral bracelet that had my armor magically compressed inside and my watch that had Tyson's handmade shield onto my wrist and slipped my pen in my pocket. "Ready, Reindeer Games?"

Loki groaned. "Do not ever say that to me again, please."

I grinned.

~:~

"Heimdall, please open the Bifrost," Thor boomed.

The rainbow circle appeared, and we were sucked in-and I gaped in amazement at the stars around us.

We were then on a golden platform. "OH MY GODS THAT WAS FREAKING AMAZING!" I yelled, seeing the golden armored guy.

I ran up to him and said, with happiness, "You must be the amazing gatekeeper!"

Then I ran back to the entrance and said, "Let's go do something incredibly stupid!"

Loki sighed. Then nodded at Heimdall. "Please open the Bifrost to Xandar, Heimdall. This is an emergency."

Heimdall nodded. "If you die, I will not be able to retrieve you."

"If I die," I said in all seriousness, "Percy would make Hades send me to Eternal Punishment."

Heimdall allowed himself to smirk a little.

Then we were gone-and landed on a not-really deserted walkway.

"Ah, drakon spit," I yelled as a guard-looking person started running after us. "RUN!"

Loki was already panting by the time we hid inside of a store.

"You…run too…fast," he gasped.

"Hey!" a man barked. We turned to see an odd-looking guy behind a counter. "Who are you?"

I smirked. "A god and his girlfriend."

The man blinked. Then The door opened and the guard-guy stood in front of him.

"You two are under arrest!" he barked.

I cursed.

~:~

"This was your idea," Loki hissed to me. We were taken to the headquarters of the city.

"Yeah, and I told you it was a stupid one," I shrugged. "I didn't know we'd get arrested for exiting the Bifrost!"

Loki only glared at me.

I sighed and sat down on the table. I held my cuffed hands out to Loki.

He gave me a questioning glance.

"We're apparently in the HQ of the planet," I explained, in a 'duh' tone. "Slap my watch."

He hit my watch. My shield spiraled out, breaking the cuffs. With a good slam on Loki's cuffs, he was out of them (or rather they separated, seeing as only the chain broke).

I slapped my bracelet, and my full armor appeared.

"Ready to cause some chaos, Loki?" I asked, taking out my sword.

Loki grinned.

"When do we start?"

"Now."

~:~

We decided to do something stupid. We broke out of the cell (gods, I love my boots!), and were instantly being fired at-after a hesitation.

My shield was decorated like Thalia's Aegis, though around Medusa's head Tyson had decorated my shield with my adventures, including the Hesperides accident (when Luke became different).

I knocked people out with either my blade or my shield. Loki had no qualms about killing, so I kind of avoided looking behind me. I didn't agree with him killing people, but he was a Norse deity.

I saw an important looking person, and I quickly retracted my shield and had my sword to the woman's throat. If they called my bluff, we would never get to the damn Infinity Stone.

The firing people stopped their firing.

"Where is the Infinity Stone?" I demanded. The woman kept quiet. I looked at Loki grimly. I wasn't going to kill her, but we needed to get the damn stone if we were to save the freaking Realms from Thanos.

"Tell her," Loki growled.

"This way," a man said, holding his hands up.

"Who are you?" I demanded. "If you're lying to me, I will end this woman's life."

"Denarian Dey. Follow me?"

I jerked my head at Loki and he followed, his armor coming into existence. I allowed her to move a little under the sword, and everyone was silent as we walked towards the vault, Loki's obvious otherworldly looks catching some attention.

We got to the command center with little to no issues. The lady gave a command, and a circular orb came out of nowhere.

"Open it," I said.

Loki's eyes were focused on it.

"No need, it's in there."

"We'll get it back," the lady said, sounding a little scared.

I sighed. "Open it!" I snapped, startling everyone.

Denarian Dey opened it. I shoved the lady to Loki and bit my lip.

"It will kill you if you hold it!" the lady proclaimed. I gave her a sarcastic smile as I grabbed it and its power filled me. Okay, so not good!

"Loki…" I choked, "how in Hades will we be able to take it back home?"

"You could swallow it," Loki suggested sarcastically. I actually considered it. Loki noticed the look in my eyes. "No, don't actually-"

Instead of swallowing it, though, I pressed it on my stomach and it _passed through my freaking skin._ No, I had no idea that would happen, it just did.

"Holy Mother, that was painful," I said with an effort. "Loki, you know you can release them."

Loki sighed. "Yeah, I know," he replied, sounding sad that he had to. "I enjoyed stealing the stone, though."

"You weren't actually going to kill us?" the lady asked. Loki looked embarrassed.

"We didn't kill anyone," he said, and I frowned at him from my position on the ground.

"You didn't?" I asked.

"No, you idiot!" he said, sounding exasperated. "I didn't! Vahalla, you are stupid!"

"Well excuse me, Mr. I-Am-A-King," I sniffed. Loki actually recoiled.

"Where did you hear that?" he demanded. I blinked. Then I looked down at my stomach.

"Do you think that the Tesseract is connected to this stone?" I asked him. Loki nodded.

"I think all of them are connected because-"

"Nova Prime, are you alright?!" a guy yelled, darting in.

The white haired lady frowned at the man. "I am, Peter Quill. Why are you even here?"

A green lady came in and froze at the sight of Loki.

"Loki," the lady breathed.

Loki too was frozen. "Gamora."

I waved my hand, making everyone's attention turn to me.

"Uh, hello? Kinda freaking out here?"

~:~

"So, let me get this straight. You're a god-the god of Tricksters-and you are the all-powerful goddess Nemo?" Nova Prime asked, incredulity in her tone.

"No," I said, sipping on my drink patiently. Once they'd heard Loki was a god (Loki had done nothing to dissuade that), I'd sarcastically said I was the all-goddess named Nemo. "I was being sarcastic. I'm a demigoddess." I considered that for a second. "Or demigod. You know, half-mortal, half-god?"

Nova Prime was still shocked.

Peter Quill looked at me, fascinated. "So what is new on Earth?" He asked. I looked at him, straight in the face.

"Well, aliens descended from the sky, a super-secret organization named SHIELD was found out, there are superheroes, and SHIELD was torn down and rebuilt and Loki's a reformed ass."

Loki gave me a mock-hurt look. "Meda! How could you say something like that to me?"

"You are an ass," I said in a nice tone. "Deal with it."

"Nova Prime!" a guard guy (similar to Denarian Dey) ran up. "Nebula's been sighted!"

Nova Prime gave us a calculating look.

"You're up," she said, and I set my drink down and rubbed my hands together.

"What does this Nebula look like?"

~:~

I stood next to a fountain, looking for the blue woman.

"So, Loki, what should I do?" I asked, my voice frigid, and he gestured to the water around us.

"Use our surroundings," he said pointedly.

I smirked as I saw the blue woman-she wasn't even hiding. Time for some fun!

~:~

Nebula was having a _terrible _life. She was so fed up with being second to Gamora, and when she was gone, Thanos had worked her harder than ever! Life for her sucked, as Nebula also had to pick out a viable student for Thanos to train.

She stopped abruptly when she realized the streets around her were eerily silent, and there were two figures standing there in front of her.

"Who are you?" Nebula growled.

"The most awesome daughter of Earthshaker, Stormbringer, and the Father of Horses," the female figure said.

"And I am the Trickster, the Liesmith, the Silvertongue," replied the second figure.

Nebula froze. Loki?

The second figure rose her hand, and water converged on Nebula.

Nebula, despite her mechanical side, still had to breathe.

So she ended up passing out.

~:~

"That was rather disappointing," Meda said, Loki glancing over at her.

For some reason, Meda had been really angry since Loki had gone over to speak with Gamora right before they left. Even her question about what she should use as her weapon had been cold, as though she was angry with him.

He didn't know why.

Asking her would probably lead to his certain demise.

~:~

Men. Are. So. DUMB! I wanted to scream.

If Loki asked me anything, I would probably kill him.


	14. Silence, Plans, and the Avengers

Nebula woke up and saw a female's face. Not a Xandarian's face.

"Sorry for practically drowning you," the girl said sincerely. "I'm Meda, and I would never join Thanos. Ever. So don't ask me to, don't even think about it."

Nebula blinked.

"Nebula's awake!" Meda called, then gazed down at her. "The Infinity Stone isn't in Nova Prime's possession anymore, so don't ask about it." Nebula blinked again. She opened her mouth to say something when Meda's eyes became unfocused, and Loki stepped into Nebula's view.

"Meda, may I-"

"Percy told me to tell you that you're dead when we get back home," she informed the Trickster. Loki paled drastically. "And that Annabeth will cut you into little pieces."

Loki glared at her. "Can you tell me why you're so angry that I spoke to Gamora?"

Meda glared back. She turned away and stood by the door, which Nebula had just noticed, and kept glaring at Loki the entire time.

Loki smiled at Nebula apologetically.

"How are you, Nebula?" Nebula turned away from Loki's concerned gaze.

"I do not need your pity, Trickster."

"I'm not, I'm concerned," Loki responded.

"Loki, Nova Prime wants to see you," Gamora said, popping her head in. Meda's glare turned onto Gamora. Gamora seemed to freeze, then ducked out of the room.

Loki swiftly followed and Meda approached Nebula.

"Men," she said, "so oblivious."

Nebula frowned.

"What do you mean?"

Meda looked at her with confusion. "Please tell me you've had a crush on a guy before…or been in love."

Nebula shook her head. "I never had time for that while I worked for Thanos."

Meda sighed. "Lucky ducky. I have a crush on a guy who seems to be oblivious to my feelings, doesn't care if he crushes my soul, and we're stuck on a planet full of weirdos…no offense, or anything," Meda added. "Heimdall didn't respond," she said to Nebula's confusion. Noticing that, Meda sighed. "Bridge guy? Wears gold armor?"

Nebula shook her head and sat up.

"I have no idea who you are speaking of." Meda rolled her eyes.

"Anyway, still stuck on a planet I know little about." She sat next to Nebula. "Nova Prime suggested that the Guardians of the Galaxy take her to Kree-along with us-but then Xandar would be leader-less and Thanos would shift his focus here, so I think the Guardians plan to take Loki and I-along with you-to a different planet." Meda wrote something down and then passed it over to Nebula. It was in the Kree language, but very poor grammar structure. Nebula guessed it said 'Can Thanos hear us?'

She nodded at Meda and wrote the equivalent of 'He cannot see us'.

Meda wrote something down and continued talking, nonchalant. "So we're planning to take you to this place called Knowhere. I think it's the skull of an otherworldly being…that's what Gamora said, anyway. Denarian Dey will be taking the Milano towards Earth while Denarian Rhom takes us Guardians in a shuttle. It'll be exciting."

Nebula's eyes met Meda's. She grinned.

"Ready to go to Knowhere?" Drax questioned.

Meda jumped up, dragging Nebula with her. "Let's go!" The easily-distracted girl cried. A laugh bubbled out of Nebula. This Earth girl was _strange._

~:~

Once on the ship, the Guardians and Denarian Dey went quiet. Thanos could hear them, so they really did have to be quiet.

Denarian Rhom-the person that was supposedly flying the shuttle to Knowhere-didn't exist, but Nova Prime had to make it a point to say goodbye to 'Rhom' in quiet and Dey in person, in public. Nebula found it odd that Meda was silent, but what really blew her away was the fact that Meda seemed…commanding. When they'd gotten close to the Milano and the shuttle, Meda had become withdrawn. All that could be heard was the quiet sound of the engine and the coffeemaker going.

When Earth came into view after about a week of traveling on the ship, Meda had been a bundle of anxious energy until Gamora, Nebula, and Loki no longer felt Thanos paying the Milano any attention.

Meda was the first one at the console, her fingers flying rapidly along the screen. There were few pauses here and there, like Meda was reading something, but then a voice flooded through the cockpit of the Milano.

"This is SHIELD. State your purpose, name, and reason why you are coming into Earth's atmosphere."

The voice was firm and distinctly male.

Meda cleared her throat. "This is Andromeda Jackson, ID number 11256982783456. Project file: Jackson. Designation TricksterWatch."

The voice on the other end stuttered.

"L-let me p-patch you in t-to Director Coulson." The line switched over. Meda turned a confused look to Loki, who gulped.

"This is Director Couslon with SHIELD, Miss Jackson. What's your twin's name?"

"Perseus Theseus Achilles Jackson. Otherwise known to me as Seaweed Brain. His fiancée is Annabeth Chase."

"Alright. Your companions?"

"My companions are my business, Director Coulson, seeing as I don't know you." Meda's voice became frosty. "I wish to speak with Former Director Nicholas Fury."

"Fine. Give me a minute."

Nebula tilted her head to examine Meda. This human was certainly something.

"Andromeda." The next voice to crackle out of the speakers made Meda grit her teeth.

"It's _Meda,_ sir. Not 'Andromeda'." Meda then closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "My companions are-"

"We'll meet them on the Helicarrier. Has Perseus-"

"His name is _Percy, _Fury. Honestly, have you gotten 'Dionysus Syndrome'?" Meda clucked her tongue. "'Cause we already have one Dionysus and he's enough."

There were some snickers in the background.

"Has _Percy _given you the damn coordinates?" Fury snarled.

Meda smirked. "Yeah, we'll be at the dam Helicarrier in a few dam minutes."

Someone on the other end roared with laughter.

"Excuse me?" the man on the other end roared.

"It's the Dam Inside Joke. Get with the dam program, sir." Meda ended the conversation with a swipe of her fingers and looked at the disbelieving people inside the Milano with her. "What? I can't help my knack for pissing off people in positions of authority."

Nebula had a distinct feeling of dread for when they landed.

~:~

Denarian Dey landed on the Helicarrier and nodded his approval. "It's floating. Not too impressive, but I suppose this is a genius feat of engineering?"

Meda didn't answer him. "Does this ship lock onto the surface of whatever it lands on?"

Dey looked at Quill, who nodded. "Yeah, I guess, why?"

"Because sooner or later, this puppy's going to fly." At Drax's confused look, Meda waved her hand. "Metaphorically. Anyway, let's go meet with the other Avengers!"

"'Avengers'?" the Guardians, Nebula, and Dey muttered quizzically.

"Uh-huh. Let's go!" Meda darted out, and she was met with enthusiasm by a boy who looked similar to her, while Loki, the Guardians, Nebula, and Dey all walked out cautiously.

"What did she mean by 'TricksterWatch', Loki?" Gamora asked. Loki winced.

"I…" he said, and muttered something that sounded like 'tried to take Earth over'.

"What?" Nebula asked, shocked. Loki sighed.

"I tried to take Earth over and enslave humanity. Obviously, it didn't work." Loki looked disgruntled. "Meda's watched over me since we got 'kidnapped' by the Other." Nebula frowned.

"But the Other was only sent-"

Loki placed a finger to his lips and winked. "Meda broke me out of my cell and she's watching over me."

Everyone else had looks of shock on their faces.

"Nobody actually knows that apart from her brother, her to-be sister, and her half-sister Kym." Loki shut up as Meda arrived with a rather large group of people.

"Doesn't she look like Arianna?" Nebula whispered, and Loki nodded. Gamora nodded a little, too, but when Meda arrived they shut up about it. Loki shared a little with them in their time of captivity, some of his memories had affixed themselves to Gamora and Nebula.

Just give Andromeda purple eyes and she was Arianna.

Meda pointed each of the Guardians out.

"This is Drax," she said, pointing the muscled man. "I think those marking on his chest are natural, and he's an ex-murderer, apparently." She moved on to the tree. "That's Groot, he's a sweetheart. His only three words are 'I am Groot', though, and he protects his friend. His raccoon-"

"I am not a raccoon!" Rocket protested.

"-friend is Rocket. He was genetically enhanced, and he's now a trigger-happy moron." She moved on. "Gamora's the green chick, Nebula's the blue. They were Thanos' 'kids'." She put air quotes over 'kids'. "They knew Loki. They're both assassins. I nearly drowned Nebula. That's Denarian Dey, he's from Xandar. He's here because he wants to speak with you about 'intergalactic policy', whatever that means. And this is Peter Quill. And he's half human, half…something. Not sure what. That's about it."

Nebula nearly blurted out the fact that she wasn't a guardian, but she had the oddest sense that Meda was deliberately not pointing that tidbit out.

The dark-skinned man came up to her. "And why didn't you come from the rainbow bridge?"

Meda gazed at the man, her expression light.

"He's being a dick, that's why."

Loki seemed to choke.

"Like you."

That was the end for the Avengers. Snickers burst out among them.

"She told you, Fury," chortled one with a glowing blue light coming out of his chest.

"Yep," a smirking redhead said.

"She really did," the man next to her stated.

"I'm Tony Stark," the first speaker said. "I'm Iron Man."

"Natasha Romanov, Black Widow," the redhead said.

"Clint Barton, Hawkeye," the man next to her revealed.

"Bruce Banner, Hulk," a nervous, nerdy man stated quietly.

"Steve Rogers, Captain America," a tall, quite muscular man said.

"I AM THOR!" The last big muscled guy, who wore a red cape, boomed. "I AM LOKI'S BROTHER-"

"Adopted," Loki muttered.

"IT MATTERS NOT!" Thor proclaimed.

"I'm Percy Jackson, Twister," the turquoise-eyed man said easily.

Another teen snickered. "I'm Peter Parker, AKA Spiderman."

"I'm Annabeth Chase, Feathers, nice to meet you," Annabeth snorted, hitting her husband-to-be (which was Percy).

"Ow! Annie, why would you hit me?" Percy pouted.

Annabeth hit him again. "Because you're looking at other women, and you called me 'Annie'."

"I look at other women all the time," Percy said, looking confused. Annabeth's expression turned dangerous, and instantly Percy was on his back, Meda and Annabeth glaring down at him.

"You don't," Annabeth began.

"Look at," Meda said.

"-other-"

"-women-

"-If you are-

"-planning to marry-"

"Me," Annabeth finished with a scowl. Percy seemed to get it.

"Annabeth, I never look at other women like that!" he protested.

Annabeth grinned, victorious.

"Good," Meda said. "You shouldn't."

Annabeth held out a hand for Percy, who took it and yanked her down with him.

Nebula was astonished at the easiness of their group-like they were something other than a ragtag team of superheroes.

"Come on inside, we'll give you a tour." Meda turned to Steve. "Where's your friend Sam? Percy said he was coming."

"He's late," was all Steve said. "We got a hit on a friend of mine."

"Ah," Meda said, nodding. "Got it." She turned towards her brother. "Where's Kym and Alex?"

"Inside," Percy stated, shrugging. "Conference table."

Meda smiled, then grabbed Loki's arm. "Come on!" Both of them were gone, Meda racing ahead, pulling a stumbling Loki behind her.

Nebula wondered why Loki seemed simply amused by her-and not angry she was probably going to rip his armor sleeve.

Then Meda's earlier statement came back to her. _'I have a crush on a guy who seems to be oblivious to my feelings'_. Nebula allowed a small smirk to come onto her face as she turned to her sister.

Meda and Loki would definitely be shocked if they knew what Nebula planned.


	15. Arianna's An Evil Sorceress

_I'm doing you a favor. This world is too small for heroes. ~Arianna Elisdottir_

~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~

I blinked as my stomach started hurting, the gem obviously reacting badly or something.

_My name is Arianna Elisdottir. I was enlisted by Odin to do the impossible-to destroy the Infinity Stones. I was absorbed into this one, though._

_**Wait...so did the stone merge with me or what? Am I you?**_

_No, idiot Midgardian. I am me, you are you. Do not act foolish with me-I can see through your façade._

I swallowed the lump in my throat. Loki huffed when he slammed into me as I doubled over in pain.__

"Meda, are you okay?" Loki asked, sounding concerned. I glared at him for a minute, remembering that I was supposed to be angry with him. I shook my head, refusing to answer. No, I wasn't okay. I used to be able to smile flippantly and nod, but I just couldn't muster up the energy needed. I was tired of being in the middle. All I wanted to do was heal, hopefully stop the pain. Now I had to worry about a psycho alien dude.

I sighed. Arianna-whoever she was-sighed with me.

_I understand how you feel. It is difficult to be a hero in a world that is filled with evil._

I let her glimpse into my memories a little. She recoiled-she was disgusted by the fact the gods had just sat by and watched.

_**Don't think too much of them. They're not exactly 'stellar godly parents of the year'.**_

_That is no excuse to abandon you to the rage of a Titan!_

_**At least I'll be able to defeat Thanos easier. Titans suck.**_

Amusement wafted through me.

I sat down at the conference table, Kym and Alex immediately sitting near them.

"Okay, everyone," Fury boomed. "These are our out-of-worlders, the Guardians of the Galaxy. You'll be working with them on finding a way to derail Thanos from whatever nefarious plans he can make, while saving Earth at the same time-"

"So," I interrupted, a smirk appearing on my face, "it's a Tuesday."

Everyone who got that reference grinned.

Fury gave me an irritated look. "And for that," he said, "you're hero name shall be…Coral."

I gave him a blank look as snickers flowed from the rest of the Avengers.

"Funny," I said dryly. I turned to Kym. "Is your hero name 'Kym' since you're a goddess?"

Kym grinned. "Only if I was actually going to participate…and here's Alex." I took my sister and looked at her with concern. She looked unhappy…and when she saw me, her eyes lit up.

_I've never seen such pure joy,_ Arianna mused.

_**Trust me, I didn't know Alex actually loved me. I feel like a mother. **_

I sensed the Asgardian's puzzlement.

_She isn't yours?_ Arianna questioned.

I smiled a trifle sadly.

_**No…I can't have kids. During the Titan War…I kind of got stabbed. In the stomach.**_

I could feel her rage.

_Who did this so I can exact revenge on them?_

_**It really doesn't matter-he died at the end.**_ I felt her quiet down.

Loki nudged me. "Meda…did you hear the question Fury asked you?"

I blinked and looked at Fury. "Sorry, I was speaking to the voices in my head. Please leave a message after the-"

"We think you should infiltrate Thanos' area," Fury said. I just sat there, my blank and my jaw wide open.

A bubble of hysteria enveloped me, and I heard Percy start to laugh. I threw my head back and laughed as well.

"What is so funny?" Fury growled.

"I don't think," I managed to say in between gasping for breath and laughing, "that a former spy can do shit, pardon my French."

"A former spy?" Fury questioned.

Annabeth sighed. "Long story short, Meda infiltrated Kronos' camp and had to flee right before Percy, her, and Beckendorf blew up the _Princess Andromeda._" Gazes turned to Percy and I.

"You were the one who blew that ship up?" Fury asked, sounding surprised.

"A good camper died with it," I responded, my hysteria dying down. "But if you think for even a _second _that I'll infiltrate Thanos' people, you're dead wrong. I won't be a double agent-it's the type of crap that gets people killed," I said, frowning. "It will get you all killed along with it. The one who knows Thanos' plans-well, one's green and the other's blue."

Everyone turned to Gamora and Nebula.

"He plans on making the Infinity Gauntlet."

There was quite a silence.

"Oh," I said. "He won't be able to make it, then, seeing as the purple-"

_It's amethyst, _Arianna corrected.

"-sorry, _amethyst _stone is currently being held inside my body and it currently has a soul attached to it." I saw them all turn to stare at me. "Stop staring, it's creepy."

"Who's voice?" Loki inquired.

I shrugged. "She said her name was Arianna Elisdottir. Maybe you and Thor knew her?" I suggested to Loki and Thor, only to receive pale faces.

My head suddenly throbbed in pain. I felt someone taking Alex from my arms just as I blacked out.

~:~

Arianna opened her eyes, straightening her body. She took on the pose of a warrior of Asgard.

"Ari?" Loki breathed. Arianna flicked a glance towards him. Even this body's reaction was similar to hers-the slight acceleration of breath, the heart speeding up.

_Damn,_ she heard Andromeda say. Obviously the girl knew what Arianna was trying to point out.

"Hello, Loki," she said, trying to remain cool and in control and not make her control leave her so that she'd tackle Loki in a customary meeting.

"ARI!" Boomed Thor. "HOW LONG IT HAS BEEN-"

"Thor, inside voice," Arianna reminded the idiot prince.

"Sorry, Ari," Thor said loudly, less loudly than his shout. "How long has it been since we last had a banquet for you?"

"A long time," Arianna said. "I am sorry. I had an oath to fulfill, after all."

"What sort of oath?" Fury questioned. Arianna turned her bright, flame-like amethyst eyes to gaze at Nicholas Fury.

"An oath to destroy at least one of the Infinity Stones. I have nearly succeeded. I only need a little more time." Arianna's eyes flickered to Percy's, who glared at her-who knew. He knew what she wasn't saying. "It might kill Andromeda. It depends."

"On what?" Loki demanded. Arianna allowed a smile to cross her face.

"Oh her. If she is weak, there will be nothing left. If she has a secret, she will die. And if she is strong…" Arianna lowered her eyes so nobody would see the repressed _glee_ Arianna had in sharing the news, "her mind will be ripped to shreds. There is _always a price _to destroying a Stone. _Always."_ Arianna felt Andromeda's burning anger inside of her. She turned to Kym. "Andromeda wishes for me to hold the child.

_**You won't die, Meda. Let's just see who else I can sacrifice to the Stone,**_ Arianna told the teenage demigod as Kym handed her the bundle of joy named Alex.

Andromeda was pushed down.

Nobody would stop Arianna.

Not now. She'd come too far to stop.

One of these heroes would die tonight. And Arianna knew just which one to destroy.

~:~

Night came, and with it, Arianna's Soul Magic flooded the hallways, dropping mortals and immortals alike. Alex-the third Jackson-had been put in her crib. Alex stared at her with distrust.

A little bit of Soul Magic and the baby was asleep.

Arianna walked toward a room, a gown of purple satin appearing on her. As a sorceress, Arianna's smoky amethyst eyes made all around her know what she was-what her magic was. Arianna had made the dress herself when it became clear she needed a signature way of dressing, as all of the palace had their ways of dressing. Arianna had chosen amethyst as her way, and it had been accepted by Odin.

_**I'm doing you a favor, you insolent child. This world is too small for heroes.**_

_You simply want to live longer! How is it you were so nice at first and then you became evil?_ Andromeda cried.

_**I have no need to respond to that.**_ Arianna ignored whatever the demigod was doing.

~:~

She opened the door to Percy Jackson's room.

She allowed a dagger to slip into her hand, and she raised it.

Percy coughed as he awoke.

~:~

Pain spread in Percy's midsection as he started awake. Something was lodged in his stomach- Arianna stood above him, grinning wickedly.

If Percy hadn't been dying, he'd have cracked a joke about how horror movie-ish it was.

Instead, he coughed.

"Don't let her control you, sis," he managed to say. The malevolent grin faded as burning amethyst eyes faded to green, and those green eyes filled with tears.

"Percy, stay away," Meda ordered. Percy couldn't. He closed his eyes, dimly hearing yelling.

~:~

_**I'M NOT LETTING HIM DIE, ARIANNA, SO YOU TELL ME WHAT I HAVE TO DO TO SAVE HIM! **_I roared to the Soul Magic sorceress. I heard her laughs.

_Never-_

I decided to stop listening to her…and I felt the burn of the Infinity Stone, urging me to use its power.

The cost of one life-plus an Asgardian's soul-seemed to be the answer to destroying the Infinity Stone.

Honestly, I didn't care. I urged to power to go to my hands, seeing my veins outlined by the glowing purple substance.

I placed my purple-glowing hands on Percy's stomach, and though of every time Percy had been there for me.

Right now, I didn't care that my mind could shatter and break off into a million pieces.

_Save. Percy._

I felt it draining me as I watched it exit my hands. The way it happened reminded me of how Eragon healed Saphira in the movie _Eragon._

I felt Arianna raging at me-and then she was abruptly silenced.

I felt a blast of pain from my own stomach, and a brilliant purple light exploded around me.

I think it's fair to say I earned the blackout that happened.


	16. I Don't Die But I Have An Amethyst Eye

_I laugh because inside I'm crying, holding myself together so that you can't see me break, and stand because I don't want to fall. ~Andromeda Jackson_

~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~

"I almost killed him!" I snarled at Loki. "One week ago, I _almost killed my twin brother!"_

Loki simply blinked at me.

"That was Arianna, Meda. Don't kill yourself, because then you _will_ kill him."

~:~

Okay, let's rewind a bit.

~:~

After healing Percy, I blacked out, right? I could still hear everything-I just couldn't wake up fully. It's like I was in a coma.

"Are they okay? Annabeth, what happened?" Loki questioned Annabeth.

"Arianna tried to kill Percy. I think Meda used the Infinity Stone to heal him."

Then I felt like I was being picked up.

"Take her to the infirmary! I'll check on-"

I heard a thump.

"Annabeth?!" Loki's voice was surprisingly high.

_Got to tease him about it later…_ I thought groggily.

Then footsteps, lots of shouting.

"Get a medic!" Loki.

"What did you do, Reindeer-" Tony.

"Now's not the time, Stark!" Steve.

"Get four gurneys-and I'll get Alex!" Loki.

"What's going on?!" Quill.

"Arianna tried to kill Percy, Meda saved him and shattered the Infinity Stone while doing it, Meda, Percy, Alex, Annabeth, and Kym collapsed!" Loki snarled. "Out of my way!"

I felt something collide with my skull.

_Ow…_ I sluggishly thought. _If only I could wake up…_

I heard everything going on in the background-but it seemed to dim, becoming background noise as color began flooding my vision. I saw Percy, Annabeth, Kym…and I held Alex close to me. Loki was probably holding Alex with magic-just so long as he didn't drop her.

I saw the others have glowing amethyst in one eye, while the other remained their original eye color. If you've seen the movie _Beautiful Creatures, _you know how Ridley's eyes glowed gold? Yeah, that's how the purple was in their eyes.

It faded from Annabeth's and Kym's eyes, though I somehow knew that some purple remained. Same with Percy's, moments later.

One at a time, they vanished, leaving me alone. Even little Alex disappeared…

Leaving me alone.

~:~

When I woke up, about five days later, I was restrained, but it didn't stop me from leaving. Apparently Annabeth, Percy, and Kym had all left. Alex was still there-apparently, Alex had almost stopped breathing and Loki had been monitoring her vitals not long before we left to steal the Infinity Stone.

I felt my brother prod my mind, but I shut him out like I had when I was younger. It hurt, but it hurt me more to think I had allowed Arianna to hurt my family and friends.

I spotted a mirror and recoiled. One eye was glowing amethyst, one eye was my usual green.

~:~

I managed to avoid speaking to the Avengers for two days, not eating and stealing a coffee here or there.

I decided to jump off the Helicarrier. It was above the ocean (though I had a feeling it would fly above land very soon), so I was safe. Either way I'd be safe-I did have those extra powers.

"You know," Loki said, scaring me a little, making me jump, "everyone's worried. The Guardians are still here."

"I know," I replied stiffly. I could see the Milano from where I was sitting. Even though it was windy and Loki and I should have died from the lack of air…the air seemed to quiet as we spoke. "I think I should jump off."

Loki sat next to me.

"It's not your fault." His voice was quiet. "Infinity Stones can warp the mind."

I gave a bark of laughter. "I know." Arianna's mind had been confused, sure, but rage had taken over when Arianna had remembered the price of destroying a Stone. A surge of anger flooded me. I glared at the person sitting beside me.

"I almost killed him!" I snarled at Loki. "One week ago, I _almost killed my twin brother_!"

Loki simply blinked at me.

"That was Arianna, Meda. Don't kill yourself, because then you _will_ kill him."

"I can't," I muttered sullenly. "Extra powers, remember?" I sighed. The anger drained out of me as though it never existed. "And now I have an amethyst eye that looks like its burning. I don't know what's wrong with me!" I felt the tears burn, but I forced them back with a bitter laugh.

"Why do you laugh like that?" Loki asked me suddenly.

"I laugh because inside I'm crying, holding myself together so that you can't see me break, and stand because I don't want to fall." I had no clue why it just poured out. "I'm tired, Loki." I just wanted it all to end! I didn't want to fight anymore. I didn't _want _to be the hero-I was sick of all of the fighting, of saving the world. We did it twice, and now we had to save it a third time.

"It may be dark now," Loki said softly, "but it's always darkest before the dawn. You're only human-Valhalla knows I have no idea what that means." I let a small smile appear. "But you can only come out stronger. I don't think your brother blames you at all." Loki looked out and down, looking at the gleaming waters of the ocean. "I'm a frost giant who committed patricide because I wanted to be recognized as a king-as the king of Asgard!" Loki gave a bitter laugh. "I almost killed my brother Thor-no, I did!"

"He _did_ get his powers back," I noted. I'd read up on Thor (after switching the language to Greek, which was a bit hard to read, but since it was derived from Ancient Greek, I was able to read it pretty well), and if I'd read it correctly, Thor had been entirely mortal. Loki killing him gave him his powers back because Loki never planned on allowing Thor to fully die. "If I'm right, you _knew _Thor would survive and get his powers back."

Loki shrugged. "It matters not. Thor's such an idiot he's never actually read the fine print of being an extremely powerful and long-lived demigod."

I snorted. At least Thor wasn't so arrogant now-just a little childish.

"He's also your brother," I said. I looked at Loki. "It must have hurt you at least a _little _to threaten his friends to get him to ask selflessly to spare them and kill him…which you did." Loki shot me a dirty look at my insight.

"Fine, it did," he responded. He stared at the sea some more. "I still committed patricide and fratricide."

"Loki…do you honestly consider the Frost Giant king your father?" I asked. "I barely count Poseidon as my dad, seeing as I thought for years that I was alone. Hades, Chiron was like my dad and he sent us on deadly quests!" Loki blinked. "Odin was there for you for _years-_and yeah, he may have favored Thor-and Laufey wasn't! Odin taught you a lot." Loki raised an eyebrow.

"Is that supposed to make me like him?" Loki question.

I shook my head rapidly. "Nope. You don't have to like him. I think that you honestly felt betrayed by him when he told you your parentage." I looked at the sky. "I felt the same way. I guess I hoped I actually had a minor god for a parent-but it turned out to be the second World's Most Absent Father. With Zeus being the first," I added. Thunder rolled through the sky. I shot the sky a nasty glare. "I don't think you should blame Odin, is all I'm saying."

Loki smirked. "You are smart for a daughter of the Sea God." I stood up as I smiled.

"Yeah," I said. "I guess I am."

Loki stood up as well.

"Ready to go in?"

I shook my head. "Nope…but let's go anyway."

~:~

"Ding-dong, the wicked witch is dead!" I announced as I entered the conference room. Loki confessed that he'd left a moving illusion there. I suggested to him that he stay there-he couldn't be blamed for what I was going to do.

"Which old witch?" Peter Quill and Tony asked in unison.

"The wicked witch," I answered with a grin.

"Are you all right?" Fury asked suspiciously.

I sobered and looked him in the eye. "If, by 'all right' you mean 'having been convinced by an unnamed second party not to throw myself off the side of the Helicarrier', then yes, I'm very fine." I sat down and set my booted feet on the table. "So," I said, breaking the silence that occurred right after I'd casually informed them of that, "how are we going to tell Thanos we broke one of his precious stones?"


	17. Can We Trust Ourselves? Who's Coming?

"I'm running out of ideas," Sam-a friend of Steve's-said, slamming his head on the table. Bucky Barnes-AKA the Winter Soldier-was snoring softly.

Come to think of it, everyone looked exhausted.

"How about we just hand him the rest and tell him we broke the purple stone?" Percy tiredly asked.

"It's _amethyst,_" I corrected. Percy shot me a dirty look.

Fury opened his mouth, probably about to reprimand him, then he shut it.

"That's…actually one of the sanest ideas we've had today," he said slowly.

I raised my eyebrows. "Uh, that'd be dumb. How would we waltz up and _not _die?" An idea suddenly occurred to me-and Percy groaned. "We could always send me!" I announced brightly.

"Uh, no," Tony responded, shaking his head. "No way. The way the purple-"

"Amethyst."

"-amethyst stone reacted between you, Annabeth, Kym, Percy, and Alex was unprecedented."

"We know little to nothing about the damn stones," I snapped at him. "Just because the amethyst stone's power is still inside of us doesn't mean I'm putting all of you in danger. Loki is the one that's fully attuned to the Stones because he had _two_ controlling him!"

"One," Clint replied sleepily.

"No, two," I argued. "The one on his staff. All Infinity Stones are connected. Somehow I broke one of them-I could probably break another." Everyone was waking up as the conversation began anew. I took a deep breath. "I trust Loki when he says that he couldn't sense the Infinity Stone. I'm simply asking that-for once-can you believe-without _any _hesitations-that I can do this myself!"

Percy snorted.

I turned a glare onto him.

"Something you want to say?" I asked him coldly.

"We can trust you, Meda. The thing is…can you trust _yourself?" _he questioned seriously. "I will die if you die…and we all know Annabeth and I will never have the 'picket fence' life. Once you've fought in a war, regardless of the circumstances…you're different. Meda, you went_ insane_ once." I flinched. "Annabeth, you were stabbed by a freaking _poisoned knife_. I got to watch a friend _blow up_ while trying to stop Kronos. Loki, you were the _mastermind _behind the whole alien army thing…well," he amended, "you were the pawn for the king." He turned to the Avengers, his eyes serious. "Tony, you died and your heart was restarted by the Hulk." Bruce shuffled a little when Tony turned to stare at him. "Steve, Bucky…you were involved in World War II, which was started by demigods." Steve and Bucky looked (well, their faces were the most) shocked. Percy winced a bit, then turned to Sam, who nodded. Nothing needed to be said about the most recent war. Percy turned to the Hulk. "Your alter ego-and yourself-have saved more lives than not." Percy turned to the Black Widow, Spiderman, and Hawkeye. "And you guys…you, Peter, haven't exactly been in a war yet, but Black Widow…Hawkeye…you guys are assassins. Enough said." Then he turned to the Guardians (and Denarian Dey). "I know you all have faced hardships-losing family (Quill, Drax, Nebula, and Gamora looked away from him), losing friends (Rocket looked towards Groot, who seemed to understand and patted the talking, bio-engineered, and genetically enhanced raccoon's head)…but we can ask ourselves my question: Can we trust ourselves? We can count on each other, true-but I'm not sure if we get the fact that we have to trust ourselves to do what's right." Percy's eyes were soft.

I clenched my jaw. Percy was right…but to be honest, I _did_ trust myself to do what's right. But he did have a good point-our view of 'right' and 'wrong' was probably different. There wasn't just black and white, good vs evil.

"To _Hades _with trusting ourselves." It was a growl coming from Kym. I noticed that Alex was elsewhere, and Kym gave me a nod as she passed me. "We _can _trust ourselves." Everyone sat up straighter as the goddess stood next to Fury. "We can because of the things we've gone through. The pain of losing loved ones is a difficult one." Kym looked directly at Annabeth, then at me. "War does change us, yeah-but it shouldn't define who we are." She looked at Percy. "You're right-war changed people. We're all different than we were two years ago. Hades," she said glancing around the table, "we're different than we were _two days ago!_ Meda, I'm going to stick to you like glue. I'll have your back. The Ancient Laws are nothing to me, and I'll even forfeit my goddesshood if it's needed." Her hand slammed onto the table. "I might cease to exist, but I'll be glad if it means sticking by the side of someone I love."

Her jaw was set. I knew she was not just talking-she would have my back.

Loki smirked. "I'm ready to stop Thanos. Who else is willing to die to stop him?"

There was a hesitant silence.

Then Tony sighed.

"I guess it can't be helped. I'll go."

That's when a loud chorus of 'I can't let Tony one-up me' and 'what the hell/Hades have we got to loose'?

Percy stood, and waited until the Avengers had stopped speaking.

He looked at the Guardians.

"Nebula, Gamora, Peter Quill, Drax, Rocket, Groot, and Mr. Dey…are you willing to try to put an end to Thanos?"

Drax was the first to speak. "He killed my wife and kids. Yes."

Peter sighed. "Ronan hurt my ship, and, by extension, me. Hell yes."

Nebula and Gamora only nodded.

Rocket just loaded his gun.

"I am Groot," Groot simply stated.

We all looked confused.

"It's his way of saying 'hell yes'," Denarian Dey informed them. "At least that's what Rocket says. And I agree with them."

Fury clapped his hands.

"Okay. I'm glad we all have that figured out." He looked at us seriously. "But how in Zeus' name are we going to find the other Infinity Stones?"

Everything seemed to screech to a halt.

"Oh," I said, my voice quite a bit smaller, "I forgot about that part." Oops.


	18. Test Dummies and Creepy Dreams

**angelslaugh here. Sorry for the wait! I had to post this before we left where we're staying. Not a guy, self-explanatory disclaimer. R&R!**

~:~:~:~

"Well, kiddos," a voice said, in a waaay too happy voice for the time it was (really dark. Let's just say we were all exhausted and all of us would have a dreamless sleep). "You're in luck."

Hermes, the god of messengers (and thieves, and one of my patron gods…well, I considered him one), stood there with a mischievous grin on his face.

"Hey, Hermes," I yawned. He tossed me a bag.

I barely caught it. He coughed, then said, "Your…er…sister Alex is currently with Hestia."

I gave him a sarcastic thumbs up.

He hurriedly continued.

"I have the Infinity Stones. I was…uhm…_given_ them in return for killing Thanos."

"You mean, you stole them and plan on returning them after we killed Thanos?" Percy asked. Hermes colored.

"…maybe?"

I shook my head as I ate some of the ambrosia he'd tossed to me. I tilted my head.

"Hey, Hermes, can other pantheons eat ambrosia?"

Hermes shrugged. "Maybe, I don't-"

I shoved some in Loki's mouth, as he'd opened his mouth to ask me a question (I think…). He choked, but swallowed, looking marginally better.

I turned to Thor, smiling brightly. "Want some?"

He shook his head, looking wary of me.

"Did you just make Loki a test dummy?" Percy hissed.

I shrugged, not really seeing the big deal. He wasn't combusting yet.

"It worked. He's a demigod, so I didn't see the-"

"Okay, well, I should get going. Bye!"

Hermes set a box down and vanished.

I looked around the table. Everyone but Percy and I had fallen asleep. Even Loki had, despite the fact I'd shoved a bit of ambrosia down his throat.

"Eh, screw this." I laid my head on the table, allowing my exhaustion to take over.

Blackness greeted me.

~:~

Demigod dreams didn't haunt my sleep that night. Instead, I dreamt about a weird-looking purple dinosaur that burned the world. Which was freaking _creepy._ Like on a scale of one hundred to infinity, it'd be about in the middle.

Like I said, creepy!

Anyway, when I woke up, I saw the other Avengers waking up as well, Kym setting down coffees that appeared out of nowhere.

"Any dreams?" Percy asked me. Recalling mine, I shuddered.

"Purple dinosaur burned the world down, man. It was like Leo on steroids."

Percy shuddered.

"Creepy," he said. "We had the same dream."

_No shit, Sherlock._

_**Shut up, Watson.**_

_That is totally not how it goes._

_**Don't care. Now all we gotta do is fight a purple alien named Thanos and hope he dies peacefully.**_

"Alright," Fury said, rubbing his hands together and looking totally evil for a second, "let's go kill ourselves a mad alien Titan."

"Okay," I said when everyone else looked like they were on the verge of a panic attack (me, Groot, and Loki not included). "Shall we go get dressed up?"

Everyone scrambled for the door and Loki grabbed my wrist.

~:~

Loki dragged me to where his suit was. Sitting next to it was an odd mash up of Greek/Norse styled suit.

The dress Arianna had worn had been dyed black and repaired. The hood was supposed to cast my face in shadow, making me look like a real witch. It was covered in Norse runes. The Greek part was the armor and shield (my bracelet-shield), the soft, gold-looking shoes that tied around my legs, and my whip and sword. All of the Greek items were already spelled, my armor glowing briefly with Ancient Greek magic. When I touched it, the runes flared purple, reminding me of the power of the Infinity Stone rushing through my veins. _**The stone is a part of us now,**_ Percy sent to me.

I took a deep breath.

In a few minutes, I'd slipped the dress on, noting how my hair curled. If it hadn't been for the long hair-

Wait a minute…I'd thought I had short hair. I suppose the Stone did _some_ nice changes. Or I really hadn't known I had had long hair.

I did see my hair had become glossier and thicker since the Infinity Stone. I drew up the hood and managed to have it shroud most of my face. I slipped the sandals on and they seemed to mold to my feet. My nails on both my hands and feet became painted a brilliant shade of purple (amethyst, my mind corrected). I knew that my eyes had turned fully amethyst.

Slipping on my armor and bracelet created an interesting effect. It turned a dark grey instead of keeping its normal leather brown color. Slipping on the bracelet was quick, and I used my whip as a makeshift belt, my sword appearing with its sheath. I slipped and tied it onto the whip.

I looked at Loki. "Are the runes supposed to be keeping me safe or making me look weird?" I asked him.

"I think you look beautiful," he replied unhesitatingly. I could feel my face burning.

_As if he could find _**me **_attractive._

_**Annabeth found me attractive; I think you are attractive if I'm attractive,**_ Percy replied. I rolled my eyes.

_Idiot…_

"Let's go on our suicide mission!" I cheerfully said.

Loki muttered something about 'idiots and their cheerfulness at the wrong time'.

He followed me anyway.

~:~

"Thor, ready?" Loki questioned his brother. Not that he'd tell his brother he'd even _thought _that. Odin knows what the oaf would do.

"Yes, brother!" Thor rumbled. They were going to use the Tesseract, and then they were going to hopefully kill Thanos.

That was their plan.

Not that they actually expected their plan to work. The Guardians would travel through first, with Meda on board with the Aether. Percy was staying on the Helicarrier, in case everything screwed up. Annabeth stayed with him. Kym had the other stones, and they were on a quinjet modified to fit them.

And Thor would enter last, Loki being the portal's stabilizer (he'd had to magic up some iridium, but his magic was the base component). Thor would leave Loki on Earth, and if all went well, they'd all be home in time for breakfast tomorrow.

Meaning, if they killed Thanos, they'd be eating shawarma, this time without Loki chained and looking starved.

Nobody knew what Meda really planned on doing.

~:~

Thanos looked up to see two jets landing on his rock. His eyes widened when he saw the Guardians and the mysterious creature in a familiar cloak.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded, when he saw who they were, Thor flying in with the Tesseract (and an invisible passenger, but nobody knew that).

"We're here to give you the Infinity Stones," the mysterious being replied, sounding vaguely feminine.

She held the box containing the Aether out. He summoned it, and the others when Kym held hers out.

And the Tesseract, which completed the se-

Wait. Thanos narrowed his eyes.

"Where is the amethyst gem?"

"Oh, that." The feminine creature looked at her nails, which, Thanos absently noted, were the same color as the gem. The creature looked at him.

He froze. Her _eyes._

"We kinda broke it."

A click brought all of their attention to Loki, who was tapping on a StarkPad busily with one hand, with his pointer on his other hand touched Mjolnir.

"Loki…did you just take a picture of the mad, purple Titan?" The redhead of the group asked.

Loki looked at the cloaked figure. "I just took a page out of your book, Meda. Decided to do something reckless and stupid. I posted it on my Facebook."

Thanos wasn't getting a cold feeling as he listened to them. It was not Meda Jackson in front of him.

"Oh, you have a Facebook?" Meda frowned and looked at the iron creature. "Hey, Tony, can I borrow your phone? I need to-"

"Enough." Thanos' eyes burned in hatred. "All of you will die! Chitauri, attack!"

"Ah, Hades." The Chitauri closed in.

Thanos grinned darkly.


	19. Demigod of Destruction

I took a deep breath.

I had a separate agenda than fighting these Chitauri.

I had to destroy Thanos.

I clicked my pen, and to my surprise, it crackled with wisps of darkness, lightning, and a thin stream of water. Amethyst swirled in the mix of magic.

I raised my sword, and absolute silence reigned as time pretty much stopped.

"Écho̱ kalései tous nekroús. Kathó̱s i̱ i̱mítheos ti̱s katastrofí̱s, écho̱ kalései tous nekroús." _I summon the dead. As the demigod of destruction, I summon the dead._

That did the trick.

The dead fixed their attention on me. I could feel them waiting.

"Syndéste me lepída mou, Díni̱pisína." _Attach to my blade, Whirlpool._

Their essences did as I commanded.

I charged, time returning to normal as I did the Greek thing. I hacked, slashed, and left a huge wake of destruction behind.

I spotted one of Loki's clones videotaping the entire thing.

I rolled my eyes and ducked a slash. Time to get serious.

~:~

Thanos watched with narrowed eyes. The Titan watched the so-called 'Avengers' kill their way through his Chitauri army, the 'Guardians of the Galaxy' doing the same. Loki was…doing something. Presumably using his clones. That was why he didn't even bother with ordering the Chitauri to attack them.

A burst of lightning shattered his vision. He looked at Thor, whose hammer had been blazing with energy since he came from the portal.

Then he saw her.

Starlight illuminated her, her dress flaring with runes that seemed to change constantly-Norse, then Greek. Her blade was seeped with dark smoke. Purple (amethyst, his mind automatically corrected) wisps also came off the blade. Lightning blazed behind her. Moisture started to collect.

This was the power of the demigod of destruction-Andromeda Jackson.

She'd created a storm-a cosmic storm that included elements.

"Thanos." Her voice was cold. "I, the Amethyst Sorceress, challenge you."

With the rest of the Infinity Stones at his grasp, he had no chance of losing.

Calling of his Chitauri army, now thinking he knew Meda's ambition, he used the power of the Infinity Stones to create a sword from nothing.

Having to obey his will, they did so.

~:~

I let my expression harden. I had made up a name for myself. It was _waaaay _better than 'Coral'.

I had to put on a show.

My goal? Get to the Aether or Tesseract.

If I had to die to do so, then die I would.

Everything on the ground stopped, the Chitauri stopping their attack.

He held a nasty looking blade, all jagged and wickedly sharp. I had a feeling I wouldn't survive this.

Not whole, at least.

I charged him.

We exchanged a flurry of blows, and by some frigging miracle my hood didn't fall off. I used my powers in every opportunity.

I started to feel drained. My reserves were getting low and I knew what I'd have to do.

I glanced at the ground. Everyone was watching.

I smiled at them, and then caught Thanos' blade while dropping my own. I shielded my brother from everything.

I gave him a smirk-and he pushed forward, slicing through me. It narrowly missed my spine.

He withdrew it. I didn't collapse. The storm raged on as he walked away, confident.

I chuckled as I staggered to my destination, and he turned back to see me smirk at him defiantly.

I slammed my hand onto the Tesseract, and from then on I felt like I _burned._

~:~

Thanos wasn't dead. Loki knew he was severely injured and trying to heal.

Meda had done something extraordinary. Nothing could so much as be near the Tesseract without her getting angry and trying to vaporize whatever it was.

Instead of killing Meda, it had _hurt_ her. Loki was furious, but even as he continued walking with the limp girl in his arms, he worried about her. The Tesseract had done damage, but he didn't know how much.

He had to save her.

Reaching Earth had been easier. The Tesseract did what Loki wanted without the Iridium.

And then…it had followed them, appearing everywhere they'd gone.

When Loki had gotten to the infirmary and the nurses had crowded around to grab her, the Tesseract had been there.

Loki had a bad feeling about this. Whatever it did to Meda…

…if Meda died…

…he would _end_ the damned thing.

For now, he could only watch as the doctors hooked her up to many machines and left Loki alone.

Percy came and stayed with her, Alex in his arms and occasionally in Loki's.

_Wake up,_ they both wanted to scream.

_Please, Meda…wake up._


End file.
